Cheesy Vegetable Chowder: Pinterest Love ♥

I have been on a freezer cooking frenzy lately.  I've been inspired, thanks to Pinterest.  And I can't advocate enough - one afternoon (or two... with a little one ;)) of cooking has given me enough food to fill my refrigerator's freezer.  We now have meals on the ready - and this month is a crazy one for us!  Follow along - I'll be posting the recipes that are in my freezer.  I hope you can find them useful for the upcoming holiday seasons!

This recipe isn't a freezer meal, but one I found while browsing.  And it was perfect for our first rainy, didn't get out of the 60's kind of day!  I've also read that you can easily adapt this to a crockpot version.  I will be keeping a close eye on this one in the coming months!

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder - from this recipe

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped carrot (I shredded 2 carrots)

1 celery stick, finely shopped (I used 3 small sticks)

4 cups chicken broth

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and chopped (I used 4 small size yukon gold and ended up leaving the skin on and it worked just fine)

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup milk (I used 1%)

2 cups chopped broccoli (I chopped 1 small head of broccoli - you can also use frozen broccoli too)

2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used about one heaping cup of cheese and topped it with a little parmesan when done)

Directions:

1) Melt the butter in a large soup pot.  Prepare the celery, carrots, and onion.

2) Saute over medium heat until tender (about 3-5 minutes).

3) Add garlic and cook for 1 or 2 additional minutes.

4) Add the chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender (mine took about 13 minutes).  I didn't prepare the potatoes ahead, so I had to add the chicken broth, then dice the potatoes, then bring to a boil.  Oops.  Another reason to leave on the skins ;)

5) While this is cooking, chop the broccoli and shred the cheese.

6) Mix flour with water.  I did this in a measuring cup with a whisk.  Add the mixture and simmer until the soup is slightly thickened (about 3 minutes).  Add milk and broccoli and cook until broccoli is just tender and the soup is heated through (about 5-7 minutes - I think - I honestly don't remember - but it wasn't too long! :))

7) Stir in cheese, allow to melt, and serve.

8) Enjoy!  I served mine with some garlic toast.  Yum.

The Verdict

I will be keeping this recipe!  It's a great soup base that you can add really any kind of vegetable to.  My celery was a little floppy, my carrots had started re-sprouting, and my onion had seen better days.  I love recipes like this that can easily use up less-than-stellar veges that have sat a little too long in the fridge.  I was thinking this would make a great corn chowder too with the addition of corn instead of broccoli.  You could quickly make this into a meat lovers soup with the addition of some cooked, rotisserie chicken or some cooked, sliced sausage. Make it a little smokey with the addition of some diced, cooked bacon and smoked cheddar cheese.  I tell you - you can't go wrong with this recipe!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!