A few weeks back, I sampled some terrific soup from Cube Artisan, a Los Angeles-based restaurant that has just started marketing a line of frozen foods. I loved everything, especially their Velvet Tomato Soup.

The problem was the calorie-count on that soup. At 180 calories per tiny serving, I decided that soup needed help. As I drove home from work, I reworked the soup in my head.

In my fridge I had celery, a bulb of fennel and some skinny sweet peppers I picked up from the Asian market. I hit the kitchen on a mission. I plunked a handful of new potatoes in salty water and put them on to boil, then sliced and sauteed my vegetables in order of cook-time; onion, celery, peppers, fennel. When the mix was soft, I dumped the creamy Artisan soup into the pot.

Since I’d read that smashed potatoes take on sauce a lot more readily than sliced potatoes, I pressed two soft potatoes into each bowl, poured soup over the top and enjoyed one of the best meals I’ve (re) made in weeks.