Sometimes I get a dish in my head and I just have to make it.  That’s the way it was with this.  Southwestern-flavored corn chowder is nothing new, but it popped into my mind and stewed there for a few days until I just had to make it.  I love making soups and chowders because they’re a great way to clear out the fridge of last week’s vegetables, but this time I actually went out and bought ingredients especially for the soup.  The beauty of this, as with any soup, is that it’s endlessly customizable to whatever you happen to have on hand, though.  So here’s what I did.

Chipotle Corn Chowder

1 tbsp coconut oil
1 yellow onion, large diced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 package new potatoes, halved or quartered (I used a combo of yellow, white and purple baby potatoes)
1 tsp chipotle chili powder (or other chili powder), or season to taste
1 package frozen yellow corn kernels
2 cups milk (at least 2% – I actually bummed some of Peanut’s whole milk)
1 1/2 – 2 cups water
1 tsp Better than Bouillon vegetable soup base
1/2 jar chipotle salsa (Muir Glen Organics makes a good version)
3-4 large handfuls chopped fresh kale
1 can black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican mix cheese
Additional cheese and Greek yogurt or sour cream for serving (optional)

• In a large stockpot or Dutch oven over a medium-high burner, heat up the coconut oil until oil has melted.  Add onion, sprinkle with salt, and sauté.
• When onion is just beginning to soften and take on color, add new potatoes.  Season with chili powder and sauté until potatoes are slightly browned.
• Add corn and sauté just until it has thawed.  Add milk, water, and vegetable base, turn heat down to low, cover and simmer until vegetables have cooked, at least 30 minutes.  (You can go longer.  I simmered the soup for about 2 hours before we ate it for dinner and it took on a nice complex flavor.  But if this is a weeknight dinner, not the end of a lazy Sunday, 30 minutes is fine.)
• About 10 minutes before you plan to serve, wilt the kale into the soup.  (If you’re adding beans – I didn’t – this would be the time to stir those in and let them warm up.)  Stir in the salsa and cheese and allow to simmer a few more minutes, just for the flavors to meld.
• Serve with an additional sprinkle of cheese and a dollop of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt (I used yogurt) if desired.

Yield: serves 4 for dinner, 8 for appetizers
Source: please credit Covered In Flour

“Creamy” might be a misnomer here, since there’s no actual cream in this recipe.  Or, actually, well darnit, this soup IS creamy, without the cream!  I’d been craving potato soup for awhile and really, really, really wanted to have it for dinner.  But I also knew that I needed to find a way to put more nutrition into the recipe, and some protein too, or it wouldn’t be much of a dinner.  Enter cauliflower, fennel and cannellini beans – the cauliflower and fennel to add vitamins (and bulk up the volume without also bulking up the calories), and the beans for a kick of protein.  The fennel adds a sophistication to the soup – it doesn’t taste like regular old, plain-Jane potato soup, but at the same time it’s reminiscent enough that you could easily pass it off as “potato soup” to vegetable haters and they’d be none the wiser.  There are no vegetable haters in my house (I’ve figured out how to get hubby to eat any vegetable except beets – the trick is in cooking them in a way that flatters them best, which means roasting in most cases – and he’s finally accepted fennel in the crisper drawer; all it took was me accepting that he won’t eat it raw).  But still, it’s nice to be able to turn a craving for something that isn’t all that virtuous (I know potatoes are healthy, but potato soup usually isn’t) and turn it into a dinner I’m really proud to serve.  Next time, I think I might make it as a “loaded baked potato soup” by leaving the skins on and serving it with my favorite baked potato toppings – plain Greek yogurt (healthy sour cream swap) and chopped scallions, and maybe even Bac’un bits.  Oops, now I’m craving this soup all over again.

Creamy Potato-Vegetable Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 white onion, diced
kosher salt
6 medium potatoes (Yukon Gold is my fave), peeled and chopped
1 fennel bulb, thickly sliced
1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets
4 cups vegetable broth
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
freshly ground black pepper

• Heat olive oil in large stockpot over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add diced onion and a sprinkling of kosher salt (not too much!), and saute until onion is translucent-golden.
• Add potatoes and fennel; continue to saute for 3-5 minutes, until beginning to soften.
• Add cauliflower and toss well to combine.  Pour in vegetable broth and stir to get any bits from the bottom of the pot.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover partially and allow to simmer for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender and cooked through (keep an eye out for boil-overs; if you have any, just take the top off the pot and crank the heat up a little bit to compensate).
• Add beans and allow to cook about 3 minutes, until softened and warmed through.  Transfer soup in batches to a blender (or use an immersion blender to puree in the pot).
• When soup is blended to the consistency you like, return it to the pot and season to taste with additional salt (if necessary) and black pepper.  Thin with water if soup appears too thick.  Serve on its own, or with baked potato toppings.

Source: Covered In Flour

Nota Baker: This soup keeps well in the fridge for several days to a week, but it will become extremely thick and a little congealed.  Don’t worry about that – just dump it into a pot, add a splash of water, and reheat, and it will be great.

I’ve been on a bit of a soup bender lately, kids.  It’s the weather.  This fall has been cooler, greyer, and rainier than it usually is in D.C., and I find myself dreaming of homemade soups to take away the chill.  I came up with this one while watching the rain pour down outside my office window one afternoon a couple of weeks ago and let me tell you, it’s a keeper.  Packed with protein and fiber from the lentils, vitamins from the butternut squash, and heady flavors from a complement of Indian spices, it’s just the thing to warm you through and perk you up when the thermostat drops and the clouds roll in.

Spiced Lentil and Butternut Squash Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large white onion, diced
1 tablespoon Indian curry powder (plus additional to taste)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
1 small-medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 cup red lentils
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water

• In cast-iron Dutch oven over medium heat, warm olive oil until shimmering.  Add diced onion and cook until translucent.
• Add spices and toss to coat onion pieces.  Cook until spices become fragrant.
• Add butternut squash and lentils and toss to coat thoroughly with onion and spices.
• Add vegetable broth and water and stir thoroughly.  Using a spatula, scrape browned bits from bottom of pot and stir to incorporate.  Bring mixture to a boil.
• Reduce heat to medium and cook 30 minutes, or until squash and lentils are softened.  Working in batches, transfer to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and velvety.  (Or use a stick blender, if yours isn’t dead like mine.  Boo.)  Return soup to pot and adjust seasonings to taste.  Keep warm over low heat until ready to serve.

Nota Baker: You can keep this soup in the fridge, but it will probably solidify.  It’s no big deal – just loosen it up with a few splashes of water while you reheat it over the stove, and stir vigorously to make sure the newly added water blends in.

Source: Covered In Flour

Sometimes I just get an idea in my head and I have to run with it.  The fall weather is slowly starting to creep into the mid-Atlantic region – mornings are darker, temperatures are cooling down, and we’ve had a fair amount of that grey fall rain.  I guess I need to let go of summer.  With the change in the weather I’m starting to feel the long-dormant itch to get into the kitchen and prepare warm, nourishing foods.  This stew is one of them.  I had pasta e fagioli on the menu and wasn’t quite feeling it.  I wanted something a bit greener.  Then the idea popped into my head for a hearty, healthy stew with kale, Field Roast Italian sausages and tubetti pasta.  I thought about it on the entire commute home one of the first cool days and as soon as we pulled into the garage, I made a beeline for the kitchen to whip it up.  Like I said, sometimes I just get an idea in my head and I have to run with it.

Italian Sausage and Veggie Stew

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 white onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
3/4 cup fresh green beans, diced (optional)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 Field Roast Italian veggie sausage links, sliced (sub other sausage if desired)
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
1/2-3/4 box small pasta shape (I used De Cecco tubetti)
1 package frozen kale (sub spinach)
pepper to taste (optional)
freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

• In a cast-iron Dutch oven, warm olive oil over medium heat until shimmering.  Add diced veggies and season with salt.  Saute until golden and softened, about 5 minutes.
• Add sausage slices and saute with veggies until sausage slices are warmed through and beginning to acquire some color, about 3 more minutes.
• Pour in vegetable broth and water, stir to ensure nothing sticks to bottom of pot.  Bring liquid to a boil, then add pasta.
• Boil pasta for the time required on the box (for tubetti it was 10 minutes), stirring frequently to ensure no sticking. 
• Add frozen kale and stir to heat through.  Test pasta for doneness – it may take an extra minute or so because it’s competing with lots of sausage and veggies!
• If desired, season with pepper and top with grated Parmesan.  (Italian sausage has lots of flavor so I didn’t find I needed this step.)  Serve hot and enjoy!

Source: Covered In Flour

I don’t do this very often – maybe I never have – but I’m giving you a recipe that comes almost entirely from cans.  I know, I know.  You can certainly freshen this up with greens, either on the side or cooked in, or a nice salad.  But if you’re in a pinch for dinner one night… or trying to cut back on the spending… here’s something you can pull together with just pantry ingredients.  And it’s pretty healthy and darn tasty, if I do say so myself.

Three Bean Pumpkin Chili

1/2 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
1 28-ounce can San Marzano tomatoes
1 14-ounce can pumpkin puree
1 14-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 14-ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
ancho chili powder to taste
Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (or other hot sauce) to taste
salt and pepper to taste

• In a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, warm olive oil until shimmering.  Add onion and cook until translucent, then add a generous sprinkle of chili powder and stir to coat.  Continue cooking until chili powder is fragrant.
• Add tomatoes, pumpkin, and beans and stir to combine well.
• Season to taste with additional chili powder, hot sauce, salt and pepper.  Turn heat down to low and allow dish to simmer for 30 minutes before serving.

Source: Covered In Flour