Mashed Potato and Cheese Soup

Another dinner of leftovers, again! Thanksgiving sure does make a lot of leftover food. This is a recipe that you can use with leftover mashed potatoes, in the event that you find mashed potato pancakes way too salty because someone thought it'd be a great idea to mix salt, butter, and some random dairy into the mashed potatoes for T-day.

Fortunately, the main ingredient is already cooked and mashed, so now I build a soup around it. There is no added salt because the mashed potatoes are already salted. If you don't have leftover turkey stock on hand, you can substitute the liquid component of this soup with water or chicken broth.

Ingredients

2 slices of bacon, cut into thin strips
1-2 carrots, diced
1-2 celery ribs, diced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced (optional)
2 c turkey broth
1-2 c mashed potatoes
3/4 c cheddar cheese, grated
Spice mix (optional): dried thyme, garlic powder, dried oregano

Directions

1. Fry bacon until crispy. Take bacon out of the pan and drain on a paper towel. This will be used to garnish the soup before serving.

2. Pour the bacon fat into the pot that will hold at least two quarts of soup. Over low-medium heat, fry onion slices until they are translucent and slightly golden brown. Add carrots and celery. Cook until vegetables are fork tender.

3. Add broth and mashed potatoes. Bring to a boil. Turn off heat. Puree with an immersion blender. Then, over medium heat, add grated cheese and stir until all the cheese has melted.

4. Serve hot in a bowl and top with some fried bacon bits.