The Hearty Fish Chowder You’ve Been Craving…

DSC_0811 (2)

This one is especially for those of you who have longingly recalled the days of enjoying a piping hot bowl of cheesy,soothing fish chowder during a harsh cold winter day. Now -without the worry of dairy or flour.

For whatever ingredient has betrayed your system, if you can still have fish, you can now enjoy this again. While there is no perfect substitute for butter and cheese, this version is so tasty that you’ll be going back for seconds (and so will everyone else in the house).

This is free of wheat, dairy, soy, treenuts, eggs, shellfish, and peanuts.

Hearty Fish Chowder, Dairy Free and Gluten Free

4 cups (34 oz) homemade fish stock*

4 medium fish filets such as haddock or cod

5 medium potatoes, small cubed (3 cups or )

2 stalks celery (1 cup), minced

1/2 large or 1 small white onion (1/2 cup), minced

1 large mushrooms (1/2 cup), minced

3-4 med garlic cloves, minced

1 bay leaf

3/4 teaspoon salt

Add at the end:

3/4 cup (6.25 oz) nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard

Directions:

In a large saucepot, add all of the ingredients except the nutritional yeast and mustard.

Bring to boil and then simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until potatoes are fork tender.

Add the nutritional yeast and mustard and stir until yeast has melted into the soup.

Add fresh cracked pepper, and/or fresh thyme (optional) to taste.

For an an even creamier taste/texture, add 1/4 – 1/2 cup of your favorite milk creamer substitute. Just make sure it is safe for you and all those you are serving by double checking ingredients and asking about their list of allergies.

*See notes below about fish stock.

DSC_0793

* Only use store-bought fish stock if you are absolutely sure of its purity. Allergic reactions to shellfish can be quite severe. When you make homemade fish stock, you can ensure that no shellfish, soy oil, or additives end up in it.

Fish stock is so easy to make by baking whole fish (eating the most of the fish for lunch or dinner), and boiling the leftover skin and bones, etc. with onions, herbs, salt, and pepper. You can get the plastic containers that are sold in the canning isle and freeze any broth or stock you make from a leftover dinner (always leave head room for expansion). When you’re ready, just run the container under warm water (leaving the lid on). When you can feel the block of broth slide inside of the container, take the lid off and dump into a pot. Set the pot over medium-low heat and watch the broth or stock melt down in minutes, ready for ingredients for your stew or soup.

Salmon Fagioli w/ Sauteed Balsamic Tomatoes

One word: Delicious.

Additional words: Made entirely from ingredients purchased at ALDI, plus tomatoes from neighbor’s garden.

To make the Sauteed Balsamic Tomatoes:

In a large skillet, heat just a little olive oil or spray with a thin coat of olive oil. Cut up tomatoes in large chunks or halve cherry tomatoes, enough to fill the large skillet (about 15 large cherry tomatoes, or 4 regular sized tomatoes, or 2 pecks of grape tomatoes).

Saute tomatoes with a little salt, balsamic vinegar (not a lot) and a very tiny bit of sugar. Do this until tomatoes are wilted and the juice from the tomatoes becomes thick.

To make the Salmon Fagioli, add the following to a soup pot:

1 can salmon, undrained

1/2 of a 32-oz container of chicken broth

1 cup of water

1 white onion, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

2 potatoes, diced into 1-inch bite sized pieces

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 10-oz can of mushrooms (or fresh if you have them)

1 14-oz can of white beans

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp ground sage

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp ground mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Boil and bring to hard simmer. Add 1 cup of gluten free pasta and cook until the pasta is done.

Take off of the heat and serve with the sauteed tomatoes. My fiance preferred this without the tomatoes but think the tomatoes would be great in a bruschetta application. So, I guess it depends on your taste (which is why I kept the tomatoes separate). My son doesn’t like tomatoes, but loved the addition of nutritional yeast to give this soup more of a Fish Chowder flavor.