Soups On for Under $7!

Last night I made a popular favorite around my house...New England Clam Chowder. I was always somewhat intimidated to make this...for whatever reason...until I tried a recipe from Dave Lieberman of the Food Network. I really like his philosophy behind cooking and preparing food...basically that you can eat well AND on a budget. Last Christmas I got his cookbook, Dave's Dinners, from my sister-in-law and, after working up my nerve, decided to try his chowder recipe. It was amazingly simple...and amazingly GOOD. I made a few changes to suit my taste and my health choices...and this is what I came up with. Enjoy!

New England Clam Chowder
6-8 servings

3 tblsp. olive oil
1 tblsp. butter
1 medium onion - finely diced
3 celery stalks - finely diced
3 tblsp. flour
2 cups fat-free chicken broth
2 (6.5 oz.) cans minced clams in juice (chopped work too!)
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
1 bay leaf
1 lb. russet potatoes - peeled and diced into 1/2" pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery and saute until softened, mixing often. Add the butter and stir until melted. Add the flour and stir to distribute evenly. Add the broth, clams and juice, milk, bay leaf and potatoes and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring often, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook 20-30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender, stirring often to prevent the sop from sticking to the bottom of your pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with crusty french bread and butter.

Or, to make it really fun, serve in sourdough bread bowls! My kids really enjoy it this way. It's like being on the wharf in San Francisco!

This recipe is so delicious...and really, truly simple. It originally called for cream, 2 bay leaves and didn't call for any butter. I added the butter and changed to 1% milk (I've also used fat-free and it was just as delicious). I also chose to only use 1 bay leaf as I thought 2 was way too strong, it was all I could taste.

The tally for this meal, with careful shopping, is as follows:

2 cans clams in juice 1.98
4 potatoes .50
celery and onion 1.00
chicken broth 1.00
milk .25

sub-total $4.73
(4) day-old mini sourdough loaves 1.99

Total $6.71

This fed my family of four a hearty dinner and left enough for a more than decent lunch for me the next day!