Creamy, Cheesy Potato Soup

I've been super mega hesitant to try making a creamy vegan potato soup. I assumed it wouldn't quite compare to the fat-laden dairy version I grew up on and I didn't want to be a disappointed chickpea. Really, who does? I hadn't even thought about potato soup in ages, but I got home from my dream job and was faced with a box of organic produce that was delivered earlier in the day. Because I am ridiculously lazy (on occasion) I never feel like putting all of it away, so I ended up digging through and taking stock of the veg to try and come up with some random dish. The main things I saw were russet taters, yellow onion, celery, and garlic. I knew it was fate. Today was the day I would finally conquer my fear! I WOULD MAKE CREAMY CHEESY VEGAN POTATO SOUP! Yes, capslock was necessary. This is a big fucking deal.

I won't lie and say there is any specific recipe. I was cooking multiple things at once (sauteed zucchini with onion and mushroom), so I wasn't paying very close attention to the exact proportions. However, I do think I'm pretty close. You should just play it by ear and figure out your preferred formula. My version easily serves 4 as a main dish.

What I used (I think):

• 2 large and 1 small russet potatoes, peeled and cut into a small dice
• about 1 cup diced yellow onion
• 1/3 cup celery, diced small
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp olive oil 
• 3 TB vegan buttah
• scant 1/4  cup flour 
• 1/4-1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 cup veg broth
• 3-4 cups unsweetened (or very lightly sweetened) almond milk
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/3-1/2 cup Daiya cheddar
• salt and pepper

What I did:

1. Boil a pot of salted water. Add the potatoes and cook until fork-tender. Drain and set aside. 
2. In a dutch oven or stock pot, heat the olive oil and saute the onion and celery. Once, softened, add the garlic and cook another minute or so. 
3. Add the butter and the flour and turn into a thick paste by stirring it all together.
4. Add the potatoes, the broth, yeast and enough milk to just cover the potatoes. Then add in the spices. Mix it really well and bring up to a light boil.
5. Stir every few minutes as the soup thickens. I actually started using a whisk near the end to keep the milk from burning to the bottom. The soup probably took 25 minutes once in the pot. But, like I said, I was distracted. In the last 10 minutes or so, I used my immersion blender and pureed about 1/3 of the soup to thicken it up a bit.You can also do it by running a bit through your blender or processor...optional, not necessary. 
6. Once the soup is thickened to your liking, lower the heat and add in the Daiya cheese. I used a whisk to keep stirring mine until the cheese was all melted.