It’s tempting to use larger amounts of vegetables, but except with the celery that means a lot more carbohydrates! There’s enough flavor in the relatively small amounts in the recipe. Cook them thoroughly, softening especially the carrot by frying and then perhaps simmering them for a good while longer until very soft, especially if you plan to purée the soup (an immersion blender helps, and I use it before adding the cream and cheese and sometimes also afterwards). Most pre-shredded cheese contains a lot of added starch, so despite the drudgery you should coarsely shred all that cheese yourself. It helps to get a very coarse grater from Microplane: expensive but the knockoff versions are usually not good. Glucomannan is definitely optional but I think it improves the texture, and again an immersion blender helps. The pepper is a matter of taste: smoked paprika is fine, but a pure cayenne taste from either cayenne powder or Tabasco sauce (adds some sourness I rather like) might be better to some palates. Black (or white) pepper: optional, you might prefer that it’s there. A good recipe that seems counterintuitive sometimes but works.