Vegan Goodness:
Today we ate:
- Breakfast: Blueberry smoothies and toast for Dad and LP and cheerios and raisins for Mom.
- Mom also had some tea and a muffin at Haley House
- Lunch: Leftover curry (which Mom paired with an avocado and hummus sandwich)
- Mom had some chips while the kids napped
- Dinner: Garlic and Greens Soup (with extra garlic!) and corn bread
- Mom made chocolate chip shortbread cookies after the kids were asleep
Money Matters:
Today we spent the following:
- $4.00 at Haley House for tea and a delicious cranberry walnut muffin
Monday Munchies: Recipe of the Week
I LOVE creamy soups. It is totally worth the transfer from the pot to the blender and back again as far as I am concerned. Yes, I know about immersion blenders. We have one and it is great for making chunky soups, but for the really creamy ones you just can’t beat our Vitamix. Anyway, I’m not going to wax poetic about creamy soups for this whole post – instead I’m going to give you a recipe for one! I puree the whole thing for maximum creamy-ness, but you could totally add in some whole corn kernels later for a more chunky soup.
Creamy Corn Chowder
Ingredients:
5 cups of corn kernels. (If you are buying them frozen, fire-roasted ones are especially good here)
2 TB of non-dairy butter, divided
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp dried thyme
4 1/2 cups of vegetable stock or corn stock (made by boiling corn cobs for a long time)
2 large yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2 -1 inch chunks
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
2-4 TB fresh basil, chopped (optional)
Directions:
- Melt 1 1/2 TB of butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Pour in the corn kernels and stir to coat them in the butter. Cook the corn for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, if you want to have corn kernels in your soup (instead of a totally creamy soup) pull out 1 cup of corn kernels and set off to the side.
- Push the corn to the side of the pan a bit and add the last bit of butter. Put the onions on the buttered side of the pan and stir a bit. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Add in the tarragon and thyme and stir around. Then add in the potatoes and stock. Bring to a boil and then cover and turn to low. Simmer soup for 20-25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and can be pierced with a fork
- Ladle the soup into a blender, puree, and then pour the soup back in the pan. This may take a few rounds with the blender.
- When the pureed soup is back in the pot, keep the heat on low and pour in the non-dairy milk, and the reserved corn kernels (if you pulled them out in step 1). Stir in the optional basil and serve!
