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phantomcg
06-19-2005, 05:57 PM
Canice - Thank you so much for re-posting this recipe for me!! It is so, so good. The only changes I made were to use 1 cup of evaporated non-fat milk and 1 cup of half and half in place of the milk called for (I was out of milk but had 1 cup of evaporated milk left over from making corn chowder and had half & half) and to use endamame in place of the peas. I used twice the amount of endamame as peas and added them with the carrots instead of at the end, so some of them did get pureed.

For anyone interested, here's the recipe:

Very Creamy Vegetable Chowder
From Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special by The Moosewood Collective

This is a crowd-pleasing Moosewood standard. There is nothing more appealing and satisfying than a sweet, fresh vegetables in a smooth, saucy Cheddar and cream cheese base: it's food that makes you feel safe and sound and well cared for.

This soup is sweet and mild and filled with enough vegetables for one meal, so serve it with a peppery little salad for contrast.

Serves 8 to 10
Yields 11 cups
Total time: 50 minutes

2 cups chopped onions
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon canola or other vegetable oil
2 celery stalks, diced
1 cup peeled and diced carrots
1 1/2 cups diced potatoes
3 cups water or Basic Light Vegetable Stock
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup diced red bell peppers
1 cup diced zucchini
1/2 cup fresh or frozen green peas
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 cups milk
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
2 ounces Neufchatel or cream cheese
In a large soup pot on medium heat, sauté the onions in the butter and oil for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the celery, cover, and cook until just soft, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots, potatoes, water or stock, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil; then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes. With a strainer or slotted spoon, remove about 1 1/2 cups of the cooked vegetables and set aside in a blender or food processor.

Add the green beans, bell peppers, and zucchini to the soup pot and cook until the green beans are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the peas and parsley, simmer for 2 more minutes, and then remove from the heat. Discard the bay leaf.

Puree the reserved vegetables with the milk and cheeses to make a smooth sauce. Stir the sauce into the soup and gently reheat. Serve hot.

Yummy!!!

Cheryl

Canice
06-19-2005, 06:20 PM
Yay! I'm glad you liked it!
DBF loved it in spite of hating peas (I refused to leave them out) and it was only at dinner time that I remembered that great tip about using edamame in their place. Next time.

Shortly I will begin an experimental corn and peppers chowder, and I discovered a small knob of cream cheese in the fridge; I'm thinking maybe.....

Pony
06-19-2005, 07:50 PM
How odd....I made this on Saturday night. It had been in my To Try pile for a while, I think I copied it from an old soup thread.

I had some extra sharp cheddar, red potatoes and some broccoli to use up and really wanted to try this recipe. You can easily switch the vegetables around as I did...wanted to use up broccoli, so I subbed that for the zucchini and peas. The store was out of red peppers :eek: , so I just got a green. The red would have been soooo good!!! I was a bit disappointed the first night we had this, b/c it was a bit thin. The flavor was great, but thinner than I expected. But today we had it for lunch and it was sooooo good. I will remember this next time and cook it a day ahead so the flavors meld and the soup thickens! We served the soup w/ CL's Cornmeal Scones!

Thanks Canice.
Michelle

mbrogier
06-19-2005, 10:00 PM
This looks really good! I have a ton of broccoli to use. I have fresh peas. Is this worth fresh peas or would I tell a difference?

Canice
06-19-2005, 11:08 PM
Ooh, I feel like I'm on the hot seat with this one! I loooove fresh peas, and since the purée business happens before you add the peas, I'd say "yes - worth it!". But then...this is soup. Frozen are perfectly good here, and you might enjoy your fresh peas more as a simple side dish. I'm not committing :p .

gabbyh
06-20-2005, 04:04 AM
I missed this the first time also...but what about the subs that Cheryl made above for milk using FF 1/2/ & 1/2 for part of the milk and evaporated for the other? What do you all think?

~Gail

Canice
06-20-2005, 04:14 AM
Sorry, I'm not clear on the question, Gail: Cheryl used 50% non-fat evaporated milk and 50% half-and-half rather than 100% regular milk.
So are you thinking of using 50% FF 1/2&1/2 and 50% non-fat evaporated milk for the other 50%?

Since I'm the minority here in disliking the FF half-and-half I can't say, if that's the question...way too much corn syrup in it for my own tastes....
Maybe just use lowfat milk since the recipe doesn't call for cream or anything?

phantomcg
06-20-2005, 06:08 AM
Originally posted by mbrogier
This looks really good! I have a ton of broccoli to use. I have fresh peas. Is this worth fresh peas or would I tell a difference?

I would save the fresh peas for a dish of their own. I don't think that you would really notice a big difference between fresh and frozen peas in this soup. There are so many veggies in it that the peas wouldn't be able to "shine". But, if all I had on hand was fresh peas,I wouldn't let that stop me from making the soup!

Cheryl

phantomcg
06-20-2005, 06:12 AM
Originally posted by Canice
Shortly I will begin an experimental corn and peppers chowder, and I discovered a small knob of cream cheese in the fridge; I'm thinking maybe.....

The corn chowder I made was a combination of a couple of recipes that I found on the boards (and, once again, based on what was in the fridge so that I didn't have to go to the store!) and one of them did call for 2 oz of cream cheese. I think that the cream cheese definately added a wonderful creaminess. The corn chowder was my first experience cooking with poblano peppers and I must say that I'm now addicted to them!

Cheryl

phantomcg
06-20-2005, 06:30 AM
Gail,

I'm not sure that the half & half really added a lot to the soup. I really did make the substitution so that I didn't have to run to the store just for milk (plus I really wanted to use up that cup of evaporated milk before it spoiled on me). I'm not a fan of the fat free half & half and I would probably just use low-fat milk instead.

It's only 8:30 AM and I'm already looking forward to my lunch!!

Have a wonderful day everyone.

Cheryl

catharine
06-20-2005, 02:32 PM
This looks delish! Does anyone have any nutritional stats on this? TIA.

cher48603
06-20-2005, 02:34 PM
Originally posted by catharine
This looks delish! Does anyone have any nutritional stats on this? TIA.
Here's what the book shows:

Per 8.25 ounce serving: 174 CALORIES, 6.6 G PROTEIN, 10.2 G FAT, 15.2 G CARBS, 5.8 G SAT FAT, 28 MG CHOLESTEROL, 549 MG SODIUM, 2.5 G FIBER

catharine
06-21-2005, 06:52 AM
Originally posted by cher48603

Here's what the book shows:

Per 8.25 ounce serving: 174 CALORIES, 6.6 G PROTEIN, 10.2 G FAT, 15.2 G CARBS, 5.8 G SAT FAT, 28 MG CHOLESTEROL, 549 MG SODIUM, 2.5 G FIBER

Thanks, Cher. I love your avatar!!!

cher48603
06-21-2005, 06:54 AM
Originally posted by catharine


Thanks, Cher. I love your avatar!!!

:D :D :D