Veggie-Leek Chowder

For some reason I've been on a soup kick lately, specifically chowder. I think the catalyst was a soup I had a few days ago from Sweet Clover Market in Essex, VT. It was a tomatillo-corn chowder. Each bite (or slurp) had an incredible burst of flavor, all at once spicy (in an herby sort of way) and creamy and earthy. It was the kind of food experience that I dream about at night and fantasize about days later as I eat a turkey sandwich on stale bread for lunch.

As I told the clerk at Sweet Clover while I was purchasing the soup (after trying a free sample), I love to cook... but I couldn't cut it as a chef. I don't have that talent or education to combine flavors in a way that make people drool for my food a week later.

Despite this lack of James Beard-level cooking ability, I still like to give it my all. So, I looked for a recipe to use a bunch of leeks from my week eight CSA, as well as a glistening container of chicken stock from a previous week. I came across a Potato, Corn and Leek Chowder recipe. First problem, no potatoes in the house. Second problem, only frozen corn (not ideal, but ok in a pinch). So, I made a few adaptations to incorporate more of my CSA veggies, and still managed to get a chowder (a lightened chowder, I might add) on the table. This soup would be great with so many different summer veggies and herbs. Use what you have on hand.

Veggie-Leek Chowder
Adapted from Cooking Light

2 T butter
1 T olive oil (I used sunflower oil again)
1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped leek
1/2 cup finely chopped purple pepper (or celery)
1/2 cup finely chopped red pepper
2 cups whole milk
3 T flour
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels (or 2 cups fresh)
1 cubed zucchini (or 2 lbs cubed Yukon gold or red potato)
1 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
3 T chopped fresh chives

Heat butter and oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leek, purple pepper, and red pepper; cook 4 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently. Combine milk and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Slowly add milk mixture to pan, stirring constantly. Stir in broth, corn, zucchini, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in parsley and chives.

Lobster?

I picked up my 7/15 CSA share... and promptly drove it to Maine for vacation with my family. Considering we had 8 adults and 4 children sharing a small kitchen, I don't actually know where all the week five produce and goodies went. I do know for certain that the five pound bag of local oats was cooked into oatmeal on more than one cool, crisp, lakeside morning (extra good drizzled with local maple syrup, which we picked up on our way out of town at our regular location - the barber shop down the street. How much more small town Vermont can you get?).

The mesclun greens appeared in a few salads, as did the bunch of carrots, sugar snap peas and red and purple peppers.

The purple peppers, by the way, were unlike any pepper I have tasted. The flesh was even more crisp than usual, and the flavor had a subtle bite to it. I've been putting recent purple peppers into chicken salads and soups.

One of these mesclun salads during our vacation appeared alongside our annual Maine lobster boil, joining my mom's homemade bread (nothing makes me wish I was still a kid living at home more than my mom's fresh baked bread) and corn on the cob.

Week six produce arrived while I was vacationing in Maine, so my friend picked it up and enjoyed the haul (aside from a slab of bleu cheese, which she was kind enough to deliver back to me, and we have been devouring ever since). Check out her photo of week six on her blog, Lou-la-la.