Creamy Bacon and Potato Soup

A simple pressure cooker soup that only takes 5 minutes to cook, and has minimal preparation. I gave instructions on how to make your own broth. You can easily make broth out of leftover chicken bones or slightly wilted vegetables. Just store them in your freezer and use them for broth later. Alternatively, you can use dried mushrooms whenever you need a broth for a soup and since dried mushrooms are good for a very long time you'll always have a cheap source of broth. This particular time I used mushroom broth and it came out great. I used gold potatoes since they have a lower glycemic index than regular potatoes. This recipe has about 450 calories.

Ingredients:

• 6 oz (170g) golden potatoes, sliced(I used organic gold potatoes from Sprouts)
• 1 slice thick-cut bacon, chopped(I used Applegate Organic No Sugar Uncured Bacon)
• 1.5 oz(45g) Canadian bacon, cut into ¼-inch cubes(alternatively, you can use 2 slices of deli ham)(I used North County Smokehouse Organic Canadian Bacon)
• 1.5 cups (360g) broth(see recipe)
• ¼ cup (60g) heavy cream(I used Kalona SuperNatural Grass-fed Organic Whipping Cream)
• ½ cup diced onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 green onion, sliced
• ½ tbsp olive oil
• 1 small bay leaf
• ¼ tsp smoked paprika
• ¼ tsp salt (adjust to taste)
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• ¼ tsp dried thyme
• Garnish: Dried chives

Instructions

• Make broth: Pour 1.5 cups of water into a pressure cooker. Add 4 ounces of browned chicken bones and pressure cook on high for 30 minutes for chicken broth. Add 4 ounces of browned vegetables and pressure cook on high for 15 minutes for vegetable broth. Add 1/3rd cup of dried mushrooms and pressure cook for 5 minutes for mushroom broth.

• Prepare the ingredients: Set your pressure cooker to sauté mode. Add the olive oil and sauté the ham until lightly caramelized. Add the bacon and sauté until bacon is mostly cooked. Add the onions and garlic and cook until slightly browned. Add the broth, potatoes, green onion, bay leaf, smoked paprika, salt, black pepper, and dried thyme. Taste and adjust seasoning.

• Cook: Pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Release steam after the 5 minutes is up. Stir in the cream, make any final adjustments to the seasoning, and serve.