Mushroom Vegetable Chowder

Mushroom vegetable chowder...O.K. this recipe came out of pure creativity as I rushed to make something warm and comforting for lunch. I was limited to what I had on hand and I wanted something light and not greasy or heavy. So, I opted to make this chowder without meat,bacon,ham or such (it was a challenge for me as I usually always use some sort of meat). But, I wanted to make something good that we could have without worrying to much about the fat content. Also, I had just picked some fresh zucchini, carrots,sweet cherry peppers from the garden along with some fresh thyme and rosemary .... and I wanted to use that. I decided to use mushrooms as the major ingredient in the chowder along with a big russet potato. So here is the final product. Hope you enjoy...

Ingredients:

• 2-3 TBS olive oil
• 1 carrot, diced (I used 3-4 small carrots from my garden)
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 1/2 celery stalk
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt/pepper to taste
• 6- 8 mushrooms,sliced (I used baby bella & quartered mine...)
• 1 large russet potato, diced
• 1 cup 2 % milk
• 1/2 cup water + 3 TBS Flour (for slurry to thicken soup)
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
• water

Directions:

1. Add olive oil to a medium pot that has been heated on medium.

2. Add diced onion, garlic and saute on med low for about 2 minutes.

3. Add carrots, zucchini, celery and mushrooms.

4. Saute on low until vegetables are soft. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Add potatoes and water just enough to cover the vegetables (about 3-4 cups?).

6. Cover and let simmer until potatoes are tender. Adjust seasoning.

7. Add milk and slurry and cook on low (uncovered) until thickened... about 15-20 minutes. You can adjust the thickness of the chowder by adding more flour/water mix. Add rosemary and thyme and finely chopped sweet cherry peppers. Cook for an additional minute or two.

Cherry peppers are definitely optional I just had it and liked the color addition to the chowder. Serve warm on a cold day!