Roasted Corn and Veggie Chowder

Every once in a while I like to play a game called 'how many veggies will fit in one dish?'  This is a game that gets mixed reviews at my house. As long as the family can't see anything offensive they will probably eat it.  If however, the zucchini is distinguishable, I'm in trouble.

In the past, I have not peeled the zucchini before putting it in the brownies.  The family was very suspicious of the green flecks.  When my boys were little they accused me of "feeding them worms" when I tried to use spaghetti squash in place of noodles.  They have warily eyed the "orange" french fries, and they have questioned me in depth over why carrots were in the spaghetti sauce.  Apparently I am not very sneaky.

This time, happily, they didn't ask, and they ate, and ate, and ate.  It was fabulous! So enjoy this chowder, and feel good knowing that your family members are getting their vegetables. :)

This is going to make a very very large amount of soup.  This will feed a crowd.  I had 7 people at dinner, mostly adults. Everyone had seconds and I still had at least 1/2 of the soup left.  I did this on purpose so I could freeze some for a future meal.  However, you can halve or even quarter this recipe and it will be just fine.

If you make this and put it in a slow cooker on warm you could feed the tailgating crowd at the next game.  Serve it with some yummy soft pretzels, and you are tailgate ready.  And if you make your pretzels with whole wheat flour, you have two healthy options, that your friends and family will love.

All of this is going onto the grill

This will be going directly into the broth to boil

just set the veggies right on the grill

yup- 4 slices of bacon. 

4 cups water plus 4 chicken bouillon cubes or 4 cans chicken stock
3-4 cups water
3 cups milk
4 corn cobs (cooked in boiling water and patted dry)
2 large baking potatoes peeled (you can use 3-4, but I try to avoid too much starch)
4-5 large carrots peeled- 3 will be grilled, but chop 2 and set aside- put in the soup pot when you add  the grilled veggies
1 large zucchini peeled, and seeded
1 head of cauliflower chopped
2-3 cups broccoli chopped
2 large stalks of celery chopped
4 slices of bacon (you will think it's not enough.  It really is and you don't need to add more for flavor, so why have the extra fat?)
1 large or 2 small white or yellow onions
1 whole clove garlic
(I didn't end up using the peppers- so they look pretty, but don't really end up in the soup)
4 slices low fat swiss cheese
2 cups cheddar cheese grated
1 8oz package cream cheese
3 teaspoons Old Bay
2-3 bay leaves
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste (I also like to add some white pepper, but it's not strictly necessary.)

Heat your grill to medium low, and place the corn, onions, zucchini, potatoes,carrots, and the garlic on.  I also cooked the bacon on the grill, because the fat drips away, and it's less clean up.  Put the celery, water, bouillon, cauliflower, broccoli and 2 cups of the extra water in a large stock pot and turn it on to simmer.

Once simmering, add the cream cheese and whisk it in so its smooth.  It will look milky in the water.  If it starts to look like it's cooking down too much, add another cup of water.

Once your veggies have nice char marks, remove from grill. Cool for a few minutes so you can handle them, then chop the potatoes, carrots, onions, and zucchini.  Peel and smash the garlic and cut the corn off the cob.  Add all of this along with the carrot slices that you set aside, to the stock pot.  Add your spices and the bay leaves and bring everything to a simmer.  At this point you may need to add 1-2 cups of water.

Let simmer for about 10 minutes, then add your milk and your cheeses.  It's going to start to thicken.  If it doesn't thicken enough, you can add some potato flakes.  You can also use flour or cornstarch, but I figure, since you already have potato starch in the soup, it makes sense to stick with it.

There you are.