Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

Original Recipe from:  http://luluthebaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/cheesy-vegetable-chowder.html


The below recipe & picture are from the above link.

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped carrot

1 stalk celery, finely chopped (feel free to add more celery if you like celery; I don't, so I don't add much)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

4 cups chicken broth (I usually use a mixture of low-sodium chicken broth and broth made with chicken soup base because it gives it such nice flavor)

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup milk

2 cups chopped broccoli

2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in a large soup pot.  Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute over medium heat until tender.  Add garlic and cook 1 or 2 additional minutes.  Add chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender.  Mix flour with water, add, and simmer until soup is slightly thickened.  Add milk and broccoli and cook until broccoli is just tender and soup is heated through.  Stir in cheese, allow to melt, and serve.

Hot Mama's Notes:

I made this recipe in my (Costco brand) dutch oven, and it turned out marvelously!  :)  I used fresh carrots and broccoli harvested from my garden the same day - double yum.  And as an added bonus... even the Husband liked this soup!  This may not sound amazing, but it is.  Generally, H does not like soups with broccoli in them.  

The only changes:

- I used two stalks celery, as I do like it.

- I didn't have any "large baking potatoes", so I used 5 regular potatoes.

- I used two 14-ounce cans of reduced sodium chicken broth, and the soup still turned out wonderful.

- I probably used more garlic (2 large cloves), as well as more broccoli and carrots.
- A better name for this soup would be Broccoli Cheese Soup with Vegetables.

Grade: A+!  Will definitely make this soup again! :)