Cheezy Potato Chowder

The other night I had a bit of a sore throat and really wanted soup. I had condensed tomato soup in the cupboard, but that wasn't sounding too appealing. So I decided to make a potato chowder of sorts. As I have said before, I rarely measure anything when I cook, so the recipe below is my best guess of what exactly I did. So feel free to tinker with it. That's the best part of making soup...is tasting it and adding a bit of this and a dash of that...or so I find.

Cheezy Potato Chowder
-1 tbsp. vegetable oil
-1/2 a large white onion, diced
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-4 sage leaves, chopped
-2 tbsp. fresh oregano, chopped
-2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
-1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
-1 1/2 tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped
-6 medium sized COOKED potatoes (I used Yukon gold..but whatever you have would be fine, and I cooked them in the microwave), chopped
-3 cups soymilk
-1 tbsp. arrowroot (or I am sure cornstarch would work just as well)
-1/2 cup nutritional yeast
-1/4 cup red pepper, chopped
-1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
-salt and pepper to taste
-chives (for garnish)
-simulated bacon bits (for garnish)

1. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion. Saute until onion is tender. Be careful not to brown onion and garlic.
2. Add chopped potatoes and saute for a few minutes.
3. Add chopped fresh herbs and stir for 2 more minutes.
4. Lower heat to medium-low and add soymilk and arrowroot, stir. Add nutritional yeast.
5. Let soup simmer for 15 min. or so. Add corn and pepper. Taste for salt and pepper. Let simmer another 10 min. If it is too thick, add some water and let simmer.
6. If desired, top each serving with chives and bacon bits.

Serves 4.

Note: Like I said, this is just my best attempt at remembering what I did. My recipes are very "tweak-able" so feel free to do your own thing.