Vegetable Corn Chowder

The veggies in the chowder. 

I'm always glad to get the Wednesday issues of The News and Observer and The New York Times, because in both newspapers a section is devoted to food and cooking.  This week in the N&O there was a recipe for Vegetable Corn Chowder from the popular cookbook 100 Days of Real Food, by NC blogger Lisa Leake.

Now that the weather is getting cooler, I am beginning to think of soup for supper.  Here's the recipe:

Veggie Corn Chowder

3 tbs butter

2 tbs flour

1 medium onion, diced

3 large carrots, peeled and diced

3 large stalks celery, diced

5 cups corn kernel, (fresh, frozen or canned)

1 tsp salt (I omit this)

Cayenne pepper to taste

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 cups milk (or half and half)

Melt  the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat.  Whisk in the flour and keep whisking until the mixture darkens but does not burn, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the onion, carrot and celery and stir occasionally until the vegetables soften, 5 to 6 minutes.  Add the corn, salt and pepper and cook stirring for 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour in the stock and milk and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer 10 minutes, until thickened.

Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree.  Add pureed soup back to the pot.  Ladle into bowls and serve warm, or you can freeze in individual portions for later. 

Yield 6 servings

Dice the carrot, celery and onion.

Three cups of corn kernels. 

Two cups of chicken broth. 

Mix the flour with the butter. 

Add the veggies and corn. 

Add the broth and the milk and simmer. 

Ready for supper. 

We enjoyed a bowl of this for supper the other day.

Black Beans and Orzo

Black beans and orzo.

I ate so many desserts in preparation for the Chocolate Festival that I've decided to cut back on sweets and try something a little more healthful.  At Whole Foods the other day I noticed their nice selection of dried beans.  I bought some black beans and cooked up a large pot--enough to have extra to freeze for later dishes.

I prepared black beans and orzo from a very simple recipe.  I sauteed one diced onion and 6 cloves of garlic, to which I added 1 can of diced tomatoes (drained), 2 cups of cooked black beans, a dash of cumin, 1 tsp. dried oregano and 1/2 cup of salsa.  I covered and simmered this for about ten minutes.

Preparing the black bean sauce.

I cooked 1/2 pound of plain orzo (next time I will use whole wheat orzo because it is more healthful.)  Orzo is small rice-shaped pasta and can be substituted for rice in many recipes.  Orzo cooks much faster than rice.  I cooked the orzo for about 7 minutes until al dente,  Drain and rinse the orzo.

Rinse and drain the orzo.

Serve bean sauce over orzo and add grated cheese on top (I used cheddar but mozzarella would be good too).  Add a nice green salad and supper is ready.

Let's have supper.

Bison Burgers for Supper

Bison Burger.

We're not much of a hamburger fan, but boy do we like bison burgers.  When I was in Costco and Trader Joe's on Saturday I looked for ground bison, but no luck.  Kroger's, on the other hand, did have it, and I bought a pound.  It's a bit more expensive than hamburger, but it is a much leaner meat, and we prefer it to hamburger.  I was going to fire up the grill, but the weather looked a bit threatening so I just cooked the burgers in the frying pan with a little olive oil.  I find it is necessary to add a little oil because of the lack of fat in the bison meat. 

Bison burgers with salt and pepper ready for the pan.

I just add salt and pepper and it's ready to go.

Bison burgers cooking in just a bit of olive oil.

Burger on top of a Trader Joe's whole wheat bun with slaw and condiments and side of potato salad and tomatoes.

Supper's ready.

Welcome Spring with Supper-time Eggs

Supper-time Eggs.

Dan and I like scrambled eggs, but we more often have them for supper than for breakfast--I call them our Supper-Time Eggs.  I thought this would make for a spring-like meal to officially usher in Spring. 

I used two whole eggs and two egg yolks.  The extra yolks make for creamier and more flavorful scrambled eggs and give the eggs a brighter yellow color. (Maggie gets the left over egg whites).  I usually add just a bit of milk or cream to the eggs before beating, and  I cook them slowly in the skillet with just a bit of olive oil.  A drizzle of basil pesto is just the right garnish, and a few spears of steamed fresh asparagus on the side suggest that indeed Spring has arrived.  I toasted some whole grain bread in the oven with the broiler setting and topped the toast with cream cheese with chives before serving.  We enjoyed our Supper-time Eggs!