Baked Potato Soup with Steak Fries and Tempeh Crumbles

This was so wonderful, and the authors of "Veganomicon" say kids love this soup, something to do with giant french fry in the middle. It was prettty easy, especially if you have the baked potatoes baked ahead of time. I try to bake potatoes more often than I need them. My mom, ever the energy and money saver, would suggest to my sister and I if that if we were going to bake (and turn the oven on) we should make more than one thing, which often meant baked potatoes. So, bake 'em. And make hash browns, twice baked potatoes, french fries, this soup, whatever. Potatoes are cheap, hearty and seem to last forever baked and unbaked. Oh, and they are fat and cholesterol free and loaded with potassium, vitamin C, and B Vitamins. Here it is:
Soup:
6-8 baking potatoes (3 1/2 pounds) baked and cooled (350 poked with a fork and wrapped in foil for about an hour)
2 Tbl olive oil
1 large, yellow onion, sliced in short strips
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp cardamon
lots of fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1/4 white wine (or more broth)
4-5 cups water or veggie broth (up the salt and spices if you are using water)
2 cups spinach
1/4 cup rice milk, or soy, or almond, or coconut


Wedges:
2 heaping tbls coarse cornmeal
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp chili powder
generous pinch of salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
safflower or earth balance for frying

Tempeh:
8oz package of tempeh, cut into 4 strips, lenghtwise
2 tsp soy sauce or tamari
splash or sesame seed oil, rice vinegar, lemon or lime juice, water, agave nectar,
safflower oil, or earth balance for frying

green onions for garnish

First, prepare the tempeh. Bring 1 quart of water to boil and add the tempeh strips, boil for 8-10 minutes. Drain and set aside. Mix the marinate and pour into a plastic bag (like one from the produce section) add the tempeh after it has cooled for a few minutes. Let marinate in a shallow bowl for 30 minutes to 1 hour, flipping a few times.

Once your potatoes are cooled enough to handle, preheat a soup pot at medium-high and saute' the onions with the olive oil for 12-15 minutes, until brown.

While the onions are cooking, slice the baked potatoes in half lengthtwise. Save three halves for the wedges. Slice the rest into 3/4 inch chunks. Once, the onions are brown, add the garlic, salt, pepper, thyme,cardamon and any other spices you want and cook for another minute or two. Add the wine to deglaze the pan. Add the chunks of potatoes and the broth or water cover and bring to a low boil. Boil for 15-20 minutes.

While the soup is boiling, start the tempeh. Preheat a heavy bottomed pan over medium and add 2 tsp safflower oil, fry each side for 5 minutes or until very brown. Set aside.

While the tempeh is frying and the soup is boiling, mix the cornmeal, spiced and garlic and pour into a small plate. Cut the remaining potatoes into wedges, I got 3-4 out of each half. Get the wedges wet with water and dredge in the cornmeal mix. Fry over medium for 4-5 minutes, flipping as necessary.

Mash up the potatoes in the soup with a potato masher, until it is a thick creamy consistency. Add the rice milk and spinach, cook for a few more minutes until the spinach has started to wilt.

Garnish with crumbled tempeh strips, green onion and a couple of friggin' french fries