Garden Chowder

I've been making the most seriously delicious creamy-thick chowder of late, pretty much straight from the garden.  I used the Zucchini Garden Chowder recipe from Simply in Season for my basic structure, shortened the name to "Garden Chowder" and expanded from there.

So yumilicious.

Garden Chowder

• Butter and/or olive oil
• 2 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1-2 onions, chopped
• 2 small eggplants, chopped
• Basil or marjoram, chopped (or sprinkled in, if dried)
• Flour
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 3-4 cups chicken stock (or water)
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• Handful of kale, ripped and chopped
• Handful of parsley, chopped
• 4-6 okra pods, chopped
• 2-3 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 cups corn
• 1-2 cups milk
• 2-ish cups cheese

Sauté the zucchini, eggplant, and onions in the butter w/ the basil or marjoram (I've been using dried marjoram, since our basil was a blow-out this summer).  Add whatever vegetable you have on hand that suites your fancy. 

Once soft, sprinkle a smattering of flour on the vegetables and stir.  Add salt and pepper.  Add the chicken stock.  Stir.  Let it simmer, then add the kale.  Let it simmer for a bit, then add the milk, okra, tomatoes, corn, and parsley.  Stir.  At the very end, add the cheese and stir.  I suppose the whole process takes . . . 30 minutes?

I like this soup chunky (as did Truen), but the other two didn't, so I used our handy-dandy immersion blender (thanks Mom and Dad!) and mixed it into a nice, thick chowder.

Yo.  Delicious.