Potato Pepperjack Cheese Soup

As a forewarning, this soup can get a little spicy. It's not like 10-peppers-in-my-som-tum kind of spicy (Thailand reference, sorry), but it's got enough kick to get your nose running by the end of your bowl. For some, the spiciness is a turn-on, not so much for others. Just thought I'd warn you.

Ingredients:
2 cups diced potatoes (I used 4 red potatoes-they hold their shape well)
1 green bellpepper, diced
1 red bellpepper, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 large onion (or 1 medium onion), diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 strips bacon, cooked to crispiness and crumbled (use as much bacon as you want! don't let me limit your bacon use!)
cooking spray
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. thyme
4-6 oz. pepperjack cheese, grated
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups half&half (this was definitely hearty enough that you don't need cream. You could even split and go half milk and half half&half)
For the roux:
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup flour

Directions:
Boil potatoes in a pot of water. While potatoes cook, saute other vegetables over medium-high heat in medium sized frying pan, covering pan in cooking spray. Once potatoes are soft, drain the water from the potatoes. Add the sauted vegetables to the potatoes in the pot.

Cook your bacon and crumble it somewhere in all this.

Add to the vegetable pot the chicken broth, half&half, white pepper, salt, thyme, and cheese. Set over medium-low heat to simmer. Try not to burn this mixture. That would not be very delicious.

While the big pot is simmering, get a small pan and melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, add the flour and whisk together. Once mixed well, add directly to the soup pot and stir in to thicken.

Enjoy!

Serves 4-5.

Oh, and best served with some yummy homemade bread or rolls!

My last disclaimer: I love eating healthy, but I do not want to kid anyone into thinking this is a healthy dinner. It's loaded with saturated fat to be sure! But, that doesn't mean we can't enjoy it! Just load it with vegetables, limit the bacon, use your half&half and you're good! Well, sort of...