This is the time of the year when I start clearing out the freezer in preparation of the incoming harvest of veggies and seafood (when can I get on the water and go crabbing again?). Also, at least once a week I get a hankering for chowder. It’s one of my favorite soups. But cream and potatoes aren’t on my living-the-crone-years diet. So, this recipe depends on a bit of alternative ingredients without giving up on taste. This doesn’t take long to make, so if you have all the ingredients, you could even whip it up on a crazy weeknight. Or an any time of year, not just freezer clean out time of year. One note about the ingredients, you don’t have to follow this recipe exactly. Add sweet peppers if you want. Use cream instead of the skim milk. Use all purpose flour instead of rice. But do know that alternating the ingredients will alter the taste. But that’s what I love about cooking. You do you. Right? But, below is how I made it. My version is for us crones doing low-carb. And I promise you it tastes divine.
Ingredients:
Cup of chopped onions
Cup of chopped celery
Cup of chopped carrots (hubby loves the multicolored ones)
One head of cauliflower, riced. (Or you could just chop it really small)
1/2 cup of white wine
Six strips of thick-cut bacon
6 to 8-ounces of flaked, cooked salmon
Four collard green leaves, chopped
One lemon juiced
2 cans chopped clams, including juice
12 ounces salad shrimp
6 oz. lump crab meat
2 cups plus two tablespoons skim milk
Rice flour (about 1/4 to 1/3 cup)
Tarragon
Salt
Black Pepper
Parsley
Red pepper flakes
Cast Iron Dutch Oven
To Make:
Cook up the bacon inside the cauldron (my nickname for my cast iron dutch oven). While bacon is cooking, put salmon and collards in a bowl and pour lemon juice over it. Let sit. Remove bacon from pan to paper-toweled-lined plate and leave drippings in dutch oven. Put in the onion ,saute on medium heat for three minutes, add celery, and carrots, cook for another two to three minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add riced cauliflower. Cook for another three minutes or until veggies are soft. Add rice flour stir until well blended and veggies have a roux-like quality. Deglaze pan with white wine. Add clams, salad shrimp, lump crab, and the bowl of collards and salmon in lemon juice. Stir until mixed well. Bring to a bubble. Put in spices (I don’t measure, I just know what I like, if you don’t know where to start, start with a teaspoon each with maybe a half teaspoon for the pepper flakes), stir. Add milk, turn heat to low and simmer until thickened. Cut up bacon and fold into chowder. Serve immediately. Yum.
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