Cream Cheese Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
2 Tbl butter
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup diced carrots (or a lot more)
3 cups chicken broth
2-3 potatoes, peeled and finely diced (sometimes I leave on the peel)
1 cup milk
4 Tbl flour
1 (8 oz package) regular or light cream cheese
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced

Directions:
In a large pot, melt the butter and add the onion, garlic, celery and carrots.  Saute, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes, until the veggies are slightly tender and the onions are translucent.  Add the chicken broth and potatoes.  Bring the soup to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

In a liquid measuring cup, vigorously whisk the flour and milk together until smooth.  Whisk the mixture into the soup, stirring quickly, and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until the soup begins to thicken slightly.  Stir often to ensure the soup doesn't burn.

Soften the cream cheese in the microwave until it is very soft/melty.  I (Mel) usually place the unwrapped cream cheese on a plate and microwave it for 1 minutes at 30% power.  I (Mel) like it really, really soft so it doesn't leave lumps in the soup.  Add the cream cheese to the soup in small tablespoon-size pieces.  Let the pieces sit in the soup and warm through, then whisk the soup until the cream cheese melts and mixes in well. (I, as in me... Steph, have never been very good at this part and I don't care about lumps...)

Add the cooked chicken and heat through.  Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Original recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.