Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

Last night was my "going meatless" experiment night.  I personally think it was a huge success! I tried a new recipe which I'm going to share with you shortly.  We got lots of vitamins from nutritious veggies in a "comfort" soup packed with flavour.  I also made some homemade rolls to accompany it.  Yum!

I originally found this recipe through pinterest over at Lulu the Baker.  Credit for this recipe goes completely to her! I simply tweeked it and added some personal flair :)

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

Ingredients
2 T butter
1 medium onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
3-4 fresh garlic cloves, minced
4 cups broth (vegetable or chicken)
4 cups water
3 potatoes, diced
3 T cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 cups cut broccoli
other frozen veggies
2 cups milk
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
In a large soup pot, melt butter over medium heat.  Add chopped onions, carrots, and celery and heat until tender.  Add fresh garlic and continue to sautee for 1 or 2 more minutes.  Pour in broth & water (note--if you want a stronger flavour, you could add more broth and less water--whatever works!  I used veggie broth because it's what I had on hand, but I think in the future I'll use chicken broth instead) Add diced potatoes.  Heat until broth is boiling and potatoes are tender.  In a separate bowl, whisk together water and cornstarch.  Pour into soup and simmer for a couple minutes until slightly thickened.  Add broccoli, any other frozen veggies you want (I used corn and green beans) and milk.  Simmer until veggies are heated through and tender.  Stir in shredded cheese.  Allow to melt & serve!


I'm telling you folks, the cheese makes this recipe! This soup is perfect for staying warm and cozy on a cold winter night. 

We have lots of leftovers (my fave!) to warm up for lunch today. 

Enjoy!

Quick & Easy Chicken & Rice Soup

5 Things I LOVE about soups:

1. They're easy
2. They're tasty
3. They stretch
4. They're inexpensive
5. They're healthy (for the most part :) )

Here's a soup I made for dinner last night.  We had our fill for dinner, ate it again for lunch today, and still have one or two rounds left of it! Seriously...how can you not love soup?  When you make soup, remember that it's just as easy to make a huge soup as it is to make a small one.  Make more than you need for your meal.  You can freeze the extra for a later meal, or simply refrigerate them to serve as lunches throughout the week.  Yum!

Ingredients:

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3-4 medium carrots, divided in half the long way and sliced

2 celery stalks, divided in half the long way and sliced

8 oz frozen peas

dried parsley

celery seed or salt

24 oz chicken stock

2-3 c water

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

2 cups cooked rice

salt & pepper

Directions:

Place oil in a soup pot over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, carrots, & celery.  Cook and stir for about 6 minutes until veggies are soft but not browned.  Add frozen peas, parsley, and celery seed.  Pour in the chicken broth and water.  Bring the liquid to a boil.  Stir in shredded chicken and cooked rice.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.  Simmer on low until ready to serve.

*Note: for the shredded chicken, I just throw the chicken breasts in a pot with 2 cups of water and boil until they're cooked through (30 min. or so).  Once they're cooled, I shred them with a fork.  

Enjoy!