As the title suggests, this is a delicious summer soup to use up anything and everything you have lying around in the fridge - just replace an item below with something else you have and want to use up. When I make it more intentionally I add zucchini and mixed sweet peppers.
Summer vegetable chowder
Gently sauté the following in a large pan:
1 tbsp butter or olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 stick celery, finely diced
Add and simmer:
2 cups vegetable bouillon/stock
1 ½ cups leftover mashed potato (containing butter and cream) - or chopped raw potatoes
2 carrots, finely diced (and/or chopped sweet bell peppers)
1 cup tiny cauliflower florets (and/or zucchini/courgette, chopped)
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste/puree
When the vegetables are just cooked, add the following and gently simmer until soft and heated through:
1 cup frozen sweetcorn (or fresh)
½ cup frozen petits pois/peas (or fresh)
1 tbsp lemon juice
Basil, finely chopped, to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Option: milk or cream to taste
OPTIONS to stir in to the bowl as you serve the soup are:
Sour cream/ crème fraîche
Grated Cheddar cheese (mature/sharp)
Fresh young spinach, torn
Happy savouring!
(More delicious Nourishing Recipes here)
If you're interested, here's the history of the soup when I first made it:
With all the lovely fresh veggies I got at the farmers' market on Tuesday filling up my fridge, I wanted to make some space by using up everything that's been hanging around for too long and has seen better days! This included: leftover mashed potato, slightly squishy tomatoes, some tomato paste at the bottom of a can, and limp celery and carrots. It's definitely time for a soup.
This is what I came up with, and it was YUMMY! I find that almost anything can taste amazing if you 'summer chowder' it - meaning, add tomato and something creamy/milky, the sweetness of corn, the fragrance of basil, and some good strong Cheddar cheese stirred in at the end. So try this with whatever YOU have languishing in the larder! Of course it's amazing with truly summer veg like courgette (zucchini) and peppers. I did allow myself the luxury of stirring torn fresh spinach into the bowl along with cheese and sour cream (this or creme fraiche is excellent to add at this point for the enzymes) - mmm! I did a 'Grace Rouleau' (my good friend and excellent soup-maker!) and chopped everything really, really small in the hopes that my DD Amelie wouldn't get freaked out by all the 'bits', and it worked - she miraculously ate a whole bowl! (though still wouldn't admit she liked it) ;-)
yum - would have never thought to add the mashed potatoes - great idea!
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