Spicy Vegetable Soup in the Instant Pot

Baby its cold outside!  I really crave soups this time of year!  I made a good amount of this to take to work during the week, and to share with my neighbors.  I prepared the soup and set it to cook, then took off to the gym.  It was so great to come home to such a heart warming soup on a day that didn't break 30 degrees!    That's the beauty of my Instant Pot 6-in-1 pressure cooker.

I use two kinds of jalapenos, fresh and pickled, because I like to adjust the heat as I am making the soup.  Two jalapenos would have been too much, but with just one the soup needed to have a bit more heat added to it. You can add as many jalapenos as you like.  

I also use two kinds of broth, a low sodium broth by Pacific and 1 quart of broth made from Watkins chicken broth.  The Watkins adds a bit more depth than the Pacific does.  Feel free to use whichever brand you like. 

My neighbors, Wayne and Waneta, to whom I delivered a nice serving of the soup, sent me the following email "What a treat to have our supper delivered to us. The soup was really good & also the bread. It really hit the spot. Thanks again." I had taken them a loaf of my homemade Semolina bread which went perfect with the soup.   

Chop the following vegetables:

1 cup celery (with about an inch of green top part)

1/2 c carrots 

1 medium onion

1 three inch long fresh jalapeno with membrane and seeds removed 

Rest of the ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. coriander seeds

1/2 tsp. cumin seed

3 big russet potatoes cubed but leave the peels on

2 1/2 to 3 quarts Pacific low sodium chicken broth

2 tbsp. Watkins chicken broth 

4 cups of water

1/4 tsp. ground turmeric

1 tsp. ground cumin

2 tbsp. chopped pickled jalapenos

Chopped cilantro to taste (I used half a bunch in this recipe)

Set Instant Pot on Sauté.

Add 2 tbsp. olive oil to pot and let warm up for a minute or so.  Drop in coriander seeds and cumin seeds and heat until the coriander seeds pop. Put in the chopped celery, carrots onion and jalapeno.  Sauté until the onions become translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add in the turmeric, cumin and pickled jalapenos. Once those have released some nice aroma, put in the potatoes and chicken broth.   

Change setting to soup and set for 30 minutes.  Let pressure return to normal. 

Right before serving add in the chopped cilantro. 

Serve with good bread.