You could be forgiven for thinking that the picture with frozen veg in it looked like something that should have hit the bin as soon as it emerged from the freezer. A chowder recipe was far from my mind as I raked the freezer for instant food.
Coming home from holiday, going shopping was the last thing on my mind, but there wasn’t anything fresh in the house. The kids had eaten at Maccy D’s and others far too often over the last fortnight and I couldn’t be bothered to drive anywhere. I made this up on the spot, and I was surprised how popular it was, considering how unappetising it looked when it hit the pot on top of the stove.
From the depths of the big freezer in the garage, out came some frozen mixed veg, frozen leeks, frozen onions, frozen peas and frozen cauliflower. I imagine fresh would do just as nicely, but for this recipe, it’s an emergency meal in a bowl.
The idea of chowder is really to have just a very thick soup, so it’s both warming and filling.
My heart was in my mouth when I first served it up, but the kids came back for seconds and even thirds. I think a version of chowder will be in the Scottish Mum house a few times a year now.
- 1 bag Frozen veg (Fill your pot to approximately half way. I used frozen cauliflower, leek, onions, peas and mixed veg)
- Boiled water (To cover.)
- Stock (Vegetable, Chicken or Beef)
- 1l Litre long life cream (Fabulous standby for cooking.)
- 250 - 500g Vermicelli or noodles
- pinch Salt / pepper (To taste.)
- Add the frozen veg to your pot in simmering stock liquid for approximately an hour. To decide how much water you need, just fill the pot up to the top of the veges, as the idea is to have a very thick soup.
- I only had little chicken stock pots available, so 3 of those were added to boiling water to start off the chowder.
- Once the vegetables are soft, blend the mix in the pot. I use a stick blender that just goes into the pot. Mine had an unappetising muddy green colour at this stage.
- Add your noodles depending on how many you would prefer. I broke my vermicelli into small pieces, so that it didn’t end up being like spaghetti in a dish.
- When the noodles are cooked, add the cream slowly, folding it into the chowder.
- Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with warm bread.
This recipe is very popular for kids. Also I think it’s so nutrient for them.
My children love this kind of easily prepared food. they love helping me put it together for them. You version looks lovely…!
Thank you. Kids loved it and I haven’t made soup this thick before, but it will be part of our lives now I think.
Love your idea for Emergency Meal. Seem to need lots of them these days 😉