Chipotle Pepper, Corn, and Chicken Chowder #recipe @lucyburdette

LUCY BURDETTE: With December upon us, the search for a delicious low-sodium soup continues! In this case, I wanted to make a chicken, corn, chipotle combination, as John has been yearning for a corn, potato, and sausage chowder that I used to make but can't eat right now. (Most sausage is laced with sodium.)
The secret, I'm finding, is lots of other flavor...

Then I realized that I'd finished up my chipotles, so I substituted Penzey's Arizona Dreamin' spice mix, which has no salt but lots of yummy peppers among other spices. I also found no-salt added versions of corn and creamed corn--a score! We liked the cilantro garnish a lot, and also used hot pepper sauce at the table (and John, some salt!)

Ingredients:

1 tsp Penzey’s Arizona Dreaming, or 1 or 2 dried chipotle chiles, soaked in 2 tbsp olive oil and chopped, or 1 tsp cumin
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
1 bunch scallions, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 large box chicken stock, low sodium
5-6 small red potatoes, peeled and diced small
3-4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded 
2 cups diced, cooked chicken
1 can sweet corn, drained (no salt added)
1 can cream-style corn (no salt added)
Chopped cilantro, to garnish Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to a soup pan and saute the chopped red peppers, the scallions, the chipotle peppers, and the spices until the vegetables are soft. Add the flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring so it doesn’t stick.Slowly stir in the box of chicken stock, stir until thick and bubbly. Add the potatoes and simmer about ten minutes. Add the chicken and both kinds of corn and heat through. (You can thin this down with some milk or a little more broth if it seems too thick.) Stir in the cheese and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with Tabasco or other hot sauce on the side.

 Lucy writes the Key West food critic mysteries.  Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!

Potato Leek Asparagus Soup #recipe @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Always on the hunt for a decent low-sodium soup, I decided to try a potato leek version. Lately I've been using Daily Pantry brand organic low-sodium chicken broth, and it's pretty good--more flavor than some of the others. I also planned to add celery, thyme, garlic and two bay leaves for extra zip. 

who could resist this?

And then John showed up with a lovely bunch of asparagus, so I took the thinnest stalks and sautéed them in a little more butter, to be sprinkled on the top with chopped chives. I'm not going to lie, the soup would be better with a half teaspoon of salt stirred in. But it was pretty darn good as is. And the folks who aren't worried about sodium can add salt at the table.

Ingredients

Three leeks
One clove garlic
Three stalks celery
Three large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
One large box good quality low-sodium chicken broth
Four ounces unsalted butter
Two sprigs of fresh thyme
Two bay leaves
4-6 stalks tender asparagus
Heavy cream
Fresh chives
Fresh ground pepper and salt to taste

Trim the leeks so you are working only with the white and palest green parts. Cut them in half lengthwise and wash them well, as there is nothing worse then grit in your soup. (Or suit, as my dictation program insisted. And that's probably true!) Chop the leeks along with the celery, and one or more cloves of garlic. Melt three tablespoons of butter in a large pot and add the chopped vegetables. When everything is well wilted, add the stock along with the chunks of peeled potato, the bay leaves, and the thyme.
Simmer until the potatoes are soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Then use your immersion blender to to purée the cooked mixture. You may leave some chunky sections if you like that texture. Add about a half cup heavy cream and stir that in. 

soup is so hard to photograph!

Serve the soup with the sautéed asparagus and chopped chives and freshly ground pepper on top.

We had a salad on the side, but you couldn't go wrong with a nice plate of biscuits or some crusty peasant bread.

The seventh Key West mystery, KILLER TAKEOUT, is on bookshelves everywhere. What about yours?

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Pasta e Fagioli #recipe @LucyBurdette #lowsodium

LUCY BURDETTE: It's winter, even in Key West, which means that we've gone native and want to curl up and nap like these guys. With maybe some hot soup for supper.

I've just about given up on soup because of my low sodium diet – most soups turn out to rely quite a bit on salt to make the flavor pop. But when I saw a recipe in Bon Appetit for a pasta e fagioli (pasta and beans) with a homemade broth that I thought I could tweak, I couldn't resist giving it a try.

I was worried about flavor though, so added two carrots and two sticks of celery to the mix. I also made the mistake of buying escarole instead of endive, but that worked out fine!


Ingredients for the stock

one and a half cups of dry white cannellini beans
2 quarts water
2 sticks celery with leaves
2 peeled carrots
2 bay leaves
1/2 head of garlic
1/2 tsp dried red pepper
handful of chopped parsley

  To cook the beans, you can either soak them covered in water overnight, or use the quick method, bringing them to a simmer for two minutes. Then cover the pot and let it sit for an hour. Next, drain and rinse the beans. Add all the above ingredients to the pot. Bring all this to the simmer and let it cook for an hour and a half.


Ingredients for the soup base

2-3 sticks of celery, diced
2-3 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
14.5 ounce can of no-salt added diced tomatoes
3/4 cup white wine

 

Meanwhile in a second pot, sauté the chopped celery, carrots, onion, and two garlic cloves in 3 tablespoons of olive oil. When the vegetables are soft, add the tomatoes and simmer until most of the juice has evaporated. And 3/4 cup white wine and simmer again. 


When the big pot has finished simmering, drain the beans, discard the vegetables, and add the beans to the second pot, along with 4 cups of water or low sodium chicken stock. Simmer this all together, then add 6 oz of good pasta, broken into smallish pieces. Simmer until al dente, then add 1/2 head chopped escarole and simmer for several minutes until wilted.

 

Serve with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.

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And don't forget (how could you?), KILLER TAKEOUT will be in bookstores of all kinds on April 5, but is available for pre-order today!