I’m going to start by saying I have never been the biggest fan of New England Clam Chowder. Clams always freaked me out a little bit.. hence the reason I’m vegan, I suppose. But the soon-to-be hubby is a fan! With the cold ass weather upon us, soup is our go to for a lot of cozy dinners (as you can see by the multiple soup recipes). You could say we are, soup connoisseurs, purveyors of soup, soup junkies, soup a loops.. enough.
This recipe has been adapted from a few clam chowder/vegan chowder recipes. It is creamy, rich, delicious, and most of all… good. It’s good chowder! Try it out.
Vegan ‘GLAM’ Chowder
Ingredients
Cream base
- 1/2 cup raw cashews (boil them for 10 minutes, cover and let sit for another 10 minutes. Then drain and use)
- 3/4 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
‘GLAM’s (Mushrooms)
- 1 Tbs of vegan butter
- 1 and 1/2 cups of mushrooms chopped (any kind works here)
- 1 minced garlic clove
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
The Soup!
- 1 tbs vegan butter
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 medium white onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, chopped in to 1/4 in pieces
- 2 carrots, chopped in to 1/4 in pieces
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbs thyme
- 1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 and 1/2 cups dry white wine, like chardonnay (1/2 cup for the soup, 1 cup for you.. seriously, only put 1/2 cup of wine in there)
- 3 and 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 3 tbs all purpose flour
- 1 russet potato, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- Himalayan salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 2 tbs of lemon juice
Alright! That seems like a lot of ingredients but some of this stuff I’m sure you have lying around. Everything else is relatively cheap so don’t let the shopping list intimidate you!
First you will need to put together your cream base. It’s pretty simple. Blend together your soaked/boiled cashews with the unsweetened almond milk. We used out Nutri Bullet and it always works great. Boom. You’re done with step one.
Next, it’s time to cook up your Glams! Add the vegan butter to a large soup pot and let it melt on medium heat. Then add your chopped up mushrooms and cook those down for about 4 minutes until the liquid has evaporated. Finally, add your soy sauce, garlic, and a bit of Old Bay Seasoning and cook for another 3 minutes. FUN FACT ALERT: I use to hate mushrooms but then I had them cooked in soy sauce and my life has forever changed.
Remove those Fab Glams from the pot and set aside.
In the same pot you are going to start to put together your soup! Add some more vegan butter and olive oil and let it heat up a bit on medium. Add your onion and cook that down for a few minutes until they start to become translucent looking. Next add your celery, carrot, garlic, thyme, and Old Bay. Cook all of that down for about 5 minutes until the carrot and celery become tender. Now add 1/2 cup of wine (drink the other 1 cup) and turn up the heat to medium high to cook down the wine for about 5 minutes while stirring frequently.
Then you are going to add your flour to this mix and stir it up for 2 minutes. Next add your broth, potatoes, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Bring this mix to a simmer and cover for 15 minutes. Once the potatoes feel tender, turn down the heat to medium low and stir in your cashew cream. Taste it. Add some more seasoning if your little hear desires. Cook this for a couple more minutes and add your mushrooms and lemon juice.
My mouth just started watering thinking about the leftovers I’m about to eat for lunch. This stuff is SO GOOD! I hope you enjoy it too. Tag @phattyvegan on IG if you give it a try.
Phatty Food 