White Bean and Corn Chowder

Technically, a chowder originated as a seafood based soup made with various chunky vegetables - potatoes, onions, carrots or other root veggies - simmered together into either a creamy or savory soup. Chowders tend to be more filling than an introduction to a meal, rather, they become the meal itself with crusty bread as an optional accompaniment. It's a versatile soup style that can highlight flavors from corn to chicken and everything in between, with the consistency of the liquid - something heavier than a broth - being the only consistent factor.

Here's my take on a hearty perfect-for-winter chowder. It's earthy, crisp and goes perfect with a big chunk of garlic bread and simple salad. The smooth, pureed beans negate the necessity to add any heavy cream to this chowder, although, a heaping dollop of sour cream might be the picture perfect topping.

White Bean and Corn Chowder

Serves: 6 as a meal, 8 as a side
Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Total time: 6 hours

1 lb bag of dried white cannellini beans

6 slices of bacon, chopped

3 large leeks: trimmed of roots and dark green stalks, sliced

2 quarts chicken stock

1 ½ Tbs dried thyme (or 2 tsp fresh)

1 ½ Tbs dried rosemary (or 2 tsp fresh)

1 C frozen corn

½ C fresh parsley, a few sprigs reserved

After picking them over for any stray sediment, soak the beans in a large bowl with at least 6 cups of water for at least 6 hours or overnight. Drain.

In a large stockpot over medium low heat, fry the chopped bacon until crispy and set aside on a paper towel. Add the leeks to the pot, sautéing them in the bacon fat until wilted and turning golden, about 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock, thyme, rosemary, and beans to the pot and simmer everything together for about an hour, or until beans are tender. Take the pot off of the heat and, using a handheld blender, puree the mixture into a fairly smooth consistency. Stir in the frozen corn and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Just before serving, stir in the fresh parsley and garnish with additional parsley sprigs and a few crisp bacon bits.

Fun substitutions/additions: Of course, you could make this a vegetarian chowder by omitting the bacon and substituting the chicken stock with vegetable stock. This could also be significantly more time friendly by substituting four 15 oz cans of drained and rinsed cannellini beans, however, dried beans yield more flavor and are less expensive. As mentioned earlier, a dollop of sour cream or a few crumblings of blue cheese might finish this dish well.

$50 a week: revised

so, i couldn't go more than 1 week without spending more than $50 on my food budget. we're healthy eaters around here, which means buying (mostly) organic and often spending 2x more on expensive products. i did scale back on the extra-foods (buying multiples of one item, just because it's on sale; buying anything luxury like cookies or a special fruit preserve). what i didn't do was compromise the complexity of a typical meal. here is what i came up with as a meal plan for the week (not including lunches/breakfasts):

Friday: teriyaki salmon, brown rice, sauteed cooking greens
[leftovers reused: none]
[CSA produce: cooking greens including kale, swiss chard, and garlic scapes]
[conventional purchases: soy sauce, brown sugar, orange juice, ginger]
[organic purchases: salmon*, brown rice]
*although there is technically no labelling for organic fish, I only purchase wild caught, dye-free salmon

Saturday: mostly unaccounted for since we had potluck food at a birthday party, although i did bring fruit salad
[conventional purchases: cantelope, watermelon]
[organic purchase: grapes]

Sunday: lemon & herb roasted chicken breast on the bone, spinach rice, orange slices
[leftovers reused: none]
[CSA produce: sage, thyme, oregano]
[conventional purchases: lemon, spinach, basmati rice, oranges]
[organic purchases: bone-in chicken breast]

Monday: leftover meal from Sunday, mixed greens salad
[ leftovers resued: chicken meat, spinach rice]
[CSA produce: mixed greens, fennel, cucumber]
[conventional purchases: see Sunday]
[organic purchases: see Sunday, plus grape tomatoes]

Tuesday: zucchini/summer squash casserole, plus mixed fruit salad
[leftovers reused: bread from calzones made last week, fruit salad from Saturday]
[CSA produce: basil]
[conventional purchases: zucchini/summer squash, sundried tomatoes, cheeses]
[organic purcahses: eggs]

Wednesday: meatball calzone, sausage/pepper/onion calzone, and mixed green salad
[leftovers reused: pepper and onions from spinach rice on Monday, mixed greens]
[CSA produce: onion, fennel, radish]
[conventional purchases: sausage]
[organic purchases: beef, garlic]

Thursday: mexican soup, bread, and fruit salad with mango and lime
[leftovers reused: bones from chicken on Monday to make stock, bread, fruit salad]
[CSA produce: mixed cooking greens, onion; thyme, sage, parsley for chicken stock]
[conventional purchases: beans, mango, lime]
[organic purchases: carrots, celery]

Total cost: $72.62
This cost includes the approximate cost of my weekly CSA, plus all staple items not mentioned in the meal plan (yogurt, milk, bananas, blueberries). It does not include the cost of items we consumed that I already have in-stock (flour, sugar, yeast, salt, cereal, and oatmeal].

What I've learned:
- We cut some costs by making our own breads (for the calzone, banana bread for breakfast).
- We also cut some costs by making things from scratch (spinach rice, non-instant oatmeal for breakfasts, chicken stock)
- Making everything from scratch takes only a little extra time, but mostly, lots of mindful cooking and planning
- One major way to cut time is to reuse items, and cook/prep items for a future meal while working on the current one.
- Fruit, in all forms, is quite expensive and probably should be cut back a bit.