Soup Season is in Full Swing!!!

That's right, it's Fall, and for some that means pumpkin flavored everything (yuck!) but for this New England girl it means soup...well, that and football of course!  I've talked a lot about how cooking based on weekly sales and using the guiding principles of clean eating isn't about limiting yourself, it's about being inspired, and this week is no exception.  Here is how this week's soup recipe came to be!

What I had:

Corn - four ears I grabbed last week for free!

What is on sale:

5 pound bag of potatoes $1.88 (four for the recipe).  So far, this one bag has inspired this week's side dish along with carrots and onions, also on sale for $1.88 a bag, and also led to this soup!  I even have three potatoes left for what I expect will be baked chips or "fries"!

What I wanted: 

SOUP!  In all seriousness, I usually like to have more of my ingredients on hand or on sale, but I have been CRAVING a good chowder, and since I had corn and potatoes, there was no question what I was going to make!

This meant I needed to get:

A Red Pepper for $1.88
Celery (three ribs for the recipe) $2.08 for two hearts, and I used half of one heart
Scallions (four for the recipe) $1.18 of which I used half
Chicken Stock for $2.68

That's a total of $5.67 for the needed items

I had the other ingredients on hand; almond milk, EVOO, salt and pepper.

Start by heating two tablespoons of EVOO in a large pot, then add just the white bulbs of the scallions, red pepper, and celery, all chopped.  Cook them for about ten minutes, until the veggies start to get tender.

Then, add in the broth, potatoes diced into half inch pieces, half of the corn (about two cups) and two teaspoons of salt.  Bring that to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook for an additional 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  While that cooks, puree the other half of the corn and a cup and a half of almond milk in a food processor.  

Add the puree mixture and a quarter teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper to the soup and simmer until the soup thickens, about another 10 minutes.  You may want to add more almond milk to get your desired thickness, I added a half cup more.  Finally, add the scallion greens and serve!  You could also top it with a dollop of sour cream if the mood strikes you! 

In the end, this soup cost me about $8 to make including the things I had on hand, and yielded 8 servings.  Only a dollar a meal makes this mama happy!!!