Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

Are you ready for the best comfort soup ever?! I got this from Carrie and Southern Living :). I think the recipes are basically the same. The boys love this (which actually surprised me!). When I made this last week I had some cooked chicken in the fridge that I stirred into Jared's. It was really good! That's an option if you need some meat (right Shell!!). Again, NO pictures.

3 1/2 cups chicken STOCK (I use stock b/c I think it has more flavor. You might even start with 3 cups and if it seems like there's not much extra liquid pour in a little more. That will make sense later!!)

8 celery ribs, sliced

4 carrots, sliced (I think regular carrots taste better in soups than baby carrots. There may not be a difference!)

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used several red potatoes last time. Just use whatever you have.)

1 onion, chopped (I sprinkled in a lot of the dried onion instead of using a real onion. I think that's why the boys didn't throw a fit. It was great like that-and easier)

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 cups corn, frozen and thawed or canned

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 cups milk

paprika

dry musard

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I used a cup of mild and a cup of sharp. I also used the block that you grate yourself. I've seen them talk about preferring that over the bagged kind in one of my magazines. Probably not a big deal.)

Bring the first 6 ingredients (thru pepper) to a boil in a large pot or dutch oven. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer 15-20 minutes until veggies are tender. Remove from heat and stir in corn.

Melt butter in heavy sauce pan (medium size at the smallest) over low heat; add flour, whisking until smooth. Cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Stir in milk, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp paprika, and 1 tsp dry mustard; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly. This part takes a few minutes :). Add cheese, stirring until blended.

Stir cheese mixture in the veggie mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until heated.

Tortilla Soup

Here is another Rachael Ray recipe. (I promise I do more than read her magazine. These are actually the only two recipes I have ever made of hers, but I loved them.)

This is vegetarian, but you could add chunks of chicken or use chicken broth if you want to make it non-vegetarian.

3 poblano chilis
6 corn tortillas, halved then cut into 1/2 inch strips
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt
2 10-ounce boxes of frozen corn
1 red onion chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon minced Garlic
Pepper
4 cups vegetable broth
14.5 ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 avocado chopped
1 lime
Sour cream

1. Preheat the broiler. Broil the poblanos until blackened (approx. 10 minutes). Transfer to a bowl, cover and let cool, seed and chop the poblanos (I made the rest of the soup while the poblanos cooled.)

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet, toss the tortilla strips with 1 tablespoon oil an cumin. (To coat the tortilla strips: I like to put the strips, oil, and cumin in a ziploc bag, and shake gently.) Bake until golden (10 minutes); season with salt.

3. In a large, deep skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the corn and cook until charred at the edges (10-15 minutes). Add the onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until the onion is softened. Stir in broth, tomatoes, and poblanos. (At this point I transferred everything to the crock pot, so it would be warm when we got home from dance. If you are going to serve it immediately, you can just leave it in the pan. Make sure it is a deep pan!)

5. Top the soup with the tortilla strips, avocado, sour cream, and a squeeze of lime.)

Enjoy!

**You can use store bought tortilla chips if you don't want to make your own, but these are very tasty.

**This is pretty spicy. I would think you could use 2 peppers to make it less spicy.