Healthy Creamy Spinach Soup

I really love my weekends. I'm sure you're thinking duh, everyone does! But I reeeeeally indulge on my weekends. I eat great food, drink (lots of) great drinks, and there's usually a few DQ blizzards or donut ice cream sandwiches sprinkled in there too. I love it. I love food. I love wine. But when Monday rolls around, I need to reverse some of the damage I've done over the past 72 hours. And actually, I like that too. I like eating healthy, fresh, and relatively light during the week.  And last year, right after we had the boys, my mother in law brought over a couple containers of spinach soup for me to freeze and eat when I had a free hand. I kept it in there for quite a while because I never thought I was 'craving' spinach soup...but when I finally tried it I was blown away by how delicious and satisfying it was. I asked her for the recipe, but because she didn't have exact measurements this is only loosely based on hers. I wanted to keep mine relatively clean and light, But you could add more cream, more butter, more corn starch to thicken. Or you could add less milk and less butter if you wanted it even cleaner. I also did a high spinach to liquid ratio, because I wanted it to pack a strong spinach punch. But you could add up to 2 more cups of liquid to dilute a little more. Basically, this is a very easy soup to make and you can freeze the leftovers for a rainy day.
Recipe

• 16 oz spinach, stems mostly removed
• 1 cup diced onion
• 3/4 cup diced celery
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups full sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper (more to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (optional)
• 3 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 1/3 cup water (optional)
• Topping ideas: parmesan, croutons, feta, sour cream, store bought stuffing

Heat a little olive oil in a large soup pot, and toss in the onions and celery.  Cook for several minutes, then add in the butter to melt.  When onions are cooked, throw in the spinach and 1/2 cup water. Stir, then cover and cook until wilted (only about 5 min). Side note- removing the stems from the spinach isn't nearly as annoying or time consuming as I thought it would be. Just tear as many off as you get to, but it doesn't have to be perfect. You could also use a package of frozen spinach instead. When spinach is wilted and tender, transfer everything to a food processor and puree. Pour it back into the soup pot, then add in the chicken broth, whole milk, kosher salt, pepper, and thyme (if using). Stir to combine and allow to heat.  For a thicker soup, whisk together 3 tablespoons of corn starch with about 1/3 cup water. Add it to the soup and bring to a low simmer to thicken. Serve plain, or top with cheese, croutons, or sour cream.