Creamy Spinach — Potato Soup — Something Warm to Hold Onto

May. Six weeks of porch visits. I am counting them. Six Sundays I have driven to Prattville and stood on the porch and talked through the screen and left food and taken food and not hugged either of them. I am worried about James in a way that is different from the usual background worry. He had a health scare in early April that Gloria mentioned almost in passing on the phone, a few days of chest pains that resolved, and she made it sound smaller than I think it was. He is seventy-one. I am calculating things I would rather not calculate.

I made miso soup this week from real miso paste and dashi stock, which is a thing I have never made before, because I had been watching cooking videos in the evenings and a video about Japanese home cooking made me want to understand the principle. Dashi is made from dried kelp and bonito flakes steeped in water, fifteen minutes, and it has an umami depth that takes no effort to produce and that can serve as the base for many things. I made the miso soup with silken tofu and scallions and dried wakame and it was clean and warming and entirely unlike anything else I cook. Biscuit sniffed the dashi and gave a very specific expression of displeasure. She is not global in her tastes.

I have been having a hard time concentrating on schoolwork this month. This is not something I say easily. But it is true. I read the same paragraphs several times. My attention is somewhere else, which is: sixty-eight and seventy-one years old, two people I love, in a house in Prattville, forty-five minutes away, and a screen door between us.

The miso soup I described above was the first time in weeks I felt present in my own kitchen — genuinely curious instead of just going through motions — and it reminded me how much a warm bowl of something can do when you’re carrying quiet fear around all day. I’ve made this creamy spinach and potato soup several times since, on the evenings when I need something that asks just enough of me to stay focused but gives back more than it costs. It’s grounding in the same way the miso soup was: simple ingredients, real warmth, and the kind of thing I’d bring to a porch in Prattville without a second thought.

Creamy Spinach & Potato Soup

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 5 oz fresh baby spinach (about 4 packed cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons sour cream (optional, for serving)
• Crusty bread or crackers, for serving

Instructions

1. Saute the aromatics. Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute more, until fragrant.
2. Add potatoes and broth. Add the cubed potatoes, broth, thyme, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 15 to 18 minutes, until the potatoes are completely tender when pierced with a fork.
3. Blend partially. Use an immersion blender to blend about half the soup directly in the pot, leaving some potato chunks for texture. Alternatively, transfer half the soup to a blender, blend until smooth, and return it to the pot. (Use caution when blending hot liquids.)
4. Add dairy and spinach. Return the pot to low heat. Stir in the milk and heavy cream and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the spinach in two or three batches, stirring each addition until wilted before adding the next, about 2 to 3 minutes total.
5. Taste and adjust. Taste the soup and adjust salt and pepper as needed. If the soup is thicker than you’d like, add an additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup broth or milk and stir to combine.
6. Serve. Ladle into bowls and finish with a small dollop of sour cream if desired. Serve with crusty bread on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 210 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 480mg