After being out of town for Thanksgiving, our fridge was a little bare. I hit the store for some perishable staples (eggs, milk, a little fruit), but we get another CSA share on Tuesday so I didn’t want to get any veggies. With the gloomy rainy day, soup seemed like an obvious choice, but what kind?
I’ve never been a huge broth soup fan, plus I had very few things to put in it. Every soup I thought of required going to the store for veggies, the exact thing I was trying to avoid. Then I hit on corn chowder. I’ve made a really simple chowder before, and I thought that might work. Then while collecting ingredients I found a small zucchini-like squash hiding behind some limes, then decided to add some mushrooms for umami… veggie chowder it is!
While it was a very tasty combination, it was completely based on what I had laying around in these approximate amounts. I’m listing red bell pepper in the recipe, but I actually used two jalapeno peppers from our pepper plant which actually get quite sweet when they turn red. With the use of bullion and cheese, I didn’t need to add any salt, but you may want to depending on the broth you use.
Creamy Vegetable Chowder
Makes 3-4 servings
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, minced
½ small onion, diced
1 waxy potato (such as Yukon Gold), diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1½ cups corn kernels (I used frozen)
4 white button mushrooms, sliced
½ cup diced zucchini or summer squash
2 cups vegetable broth (I used 2 cups water + 1 cube veggie bullion)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1½ cups milk
â…“ cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated
Directions:
1.) Heat oil in a medium-large saucepan. Add shallot and onion and saute for about 2 minutes. Add potato and red pepper. Saute about 5 minutes until onion is soft and translucent. Add corn and mushrooms and stir until corn is thawed. Add zucchini. Add broth, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes until potato is tender.
2.) While soup is simmering, in a small saucepan, melt butter. Add flour and whisk to combine. Stir and cook about 2 minutes until the mixture is golden. Gradually add milk, whisking vigorously to combat lumps. Stir until mixture has thickened.
3.) When potato is tender, add roux to soup. Stir until combined, then cook until mixture has thickened to desired consistency. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Serve with some cracked black pepper.
