eclaire (what's in a) name?

i know, i know, you’re either sick of tomatoes and corn by now, or you’re wondering why you’d make a chowder in the heat of the end of the summer.

but this soup is so light and so flavorful that you will want to slurp up as much of it as possible, leaving you wondering why you thought you were sick of tomatoes or questioning making soup when it’s warm out!

this soup is from the amazing veganomicon, which if you haven’t heard of is a vegetarian/vegan’s bible. although i’m not strictly vegan, i really enjoy recipes that don’t rely heavily on dairy to be vegetarian. don’t get me wrong, my norwegian heritage fuels my love for all cheeses, but i don’t like to eat dairy in every single meal – everything in moderation, right?

in order to avoid the dairy-full vegetarian recipes, i often rely heavily on vegan cookbooks, and although i sub cheese or sour cream for the fake stuff when it calls for dairy items, vegan meals allow for so much creativity with protein sources.

this soup is creamy, but contains no dairy or fake dairy – what it calls for is removing 2 cups of the veggies, then pureeing the rest with an immersion blender to instantly make a creamy soup. ingenious! i hope you are all enjoying the end of the summer and harvest season – and that you have more ripe veggies because i’ve got one more post in this series!

corn chowder

adapted from veganomicon

• 3T olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 4 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 6 ears corn, husked and kernels cut off the cob
• 8c vegetable broth
• 1 pound tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1/3c fresh basil, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
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1. heat a large soup pot over medium heat, pour in oil and then saute the garlic for 30 seconds
2. add the onions, and allow to saute 5 minutes
3. add the carrot and celery, and allow to cook for 2 minutes
4. add the potato and cook for 4 minutes
5. add the corn and cover and allow to cook for 5 minutes
6. add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes
7. take the pot off the burner and  ladle (with a skimmer or slotted spoon) out 2 cups of the vegetables into a bowl
8. use an immersion blender to puree the soup until it looks creamy and vegetable pieces are small
9. place the pot on the heat again, and add the vegetables in the bowl back in, along with the tomatoes and basil
10. simmer for 10 minutes, or until soup is hot, then serve and enjoy!