Veggie Chowdah...

So the bounty of late summer left me with a drawer full of veggies in my fridge, and I was thinking about creative ways to use all of them, perhaps even in a manner that I could enjoy later this year!  My mind turned to soups, and I smiled.  I love chowders (or chowdahs, as New Englanders in my life like to say!), so decided I would make a non-traditional veggie chowder.

I started by cutting up all my veggies.  I used potatoes, corn, mushrooms (not from my CSA, but I love mushrooms!), bell peppers, a couple hot peppers, some onions and some garlic.  I started by boiling the potatoes until they were relatively soft.  I then drained them, added some fresh water to the pot, and pureed some of them with my immersion blender.

Separately, I sauteed the mushrooms, then added those.  I then sauteed the onions and garlic together, then when they began to caramelize I added the bell and hot peppers.  I added all of this to my potato mixture, pureed a bit more, and added my corn.  At this point, I added a bit more water and let it cook down a while as the vegetable flavors melded.  To this point, the only seasoning was the hot peppers adding a nice bite to the soup. 

After another quick puree, I added a bit of salt, stirred and cooked.  Then I tasted again, added a bit of cream to make it a touch richer, and stirred.  It was spicy, fresh and rich, with only a touch of cream to make it less healthy. 

I poured most of the soup into freezer containers, and have it in the freezer for later in the fall, and even winter!  Some of it, though, I had to have for dinner then.  It had a nice, slow heat to it, and tasted like a garden of fresh vegetables.  I am excited about enjoying it in the cold weather, too!

Community Supported Agriculture

It's been a while, and a lot has changed. Over the last few months, I've seen my dining partner off to Iraq, and it's drastically changed my cooking and eating habits. There's less pleasure for me in cooking for one. I'm hoping that is about to change, however, because I joined a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) effort this summer. This is a neat concept in my mind - people buy into the crops in shares, and then reap the rewards in fresh produce.

Tonight was the first pick-up. I got some herbs, both freshly picked and potted. I also got some lovely veggies, and my favorite...I am getting a half-dozen eggs every week for the next few months!

Here's a look at my first haul, and stay tuned...I'm hoping this inspires me to feed myself well...