by Laura Montana

Created on: December 20, 2010

Cheese and Vegetable Chowder

This chowder is a family favorite, perfect for cold winter days. This truly is a meal in a bowl and is especially nice when accompanied by dumplings or hot biscuits. You may need to double this recipe as the servings are small and the food is so good!

4 tablespoons margarine

1 cup chopped potato

½ cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped green pepper

½ cup chopped carrot

½ cup chopped onion

3 cups vegetable bouillon

2 cups milk

½ cup flour

3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Parsley (optional)

In a large pot cook potato, carrot, celery, onion and green pepper in margarine until tender. I start cooking the potato and carrots while I prepare the other vegetables since they take longer to cook. While vegetables are cooking, prepare the vegetable bouillon if you are using the granulated or cube form, then add to the pot. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Slowly stir milk into flour to form a paste, then add enough broth from the soup pot to make a very thin mixture. Pour this into the vegetables and stir well. Cook for another five minutes so the broth has time to thicken a little. Remove pot from the heat and stir in cheese and parsley. This makes seven to eight servings, fewer for big eaters.

Dumplings

Dumplings are a nice addition to any meal. They are easy to make and very economical.

Before mixing the dumpling dough put the chowder back on stove on a medium-low burner. Be sure the pot has a tight fitting lid.

1 ½ cups flour

2 ¼ teaspoon baking powder

¾ cup milk

chopped parsley (optional)

Mix all the ingredients until they form a soft sticky dough. Drop the dough by spoonfuls into the pot. Put the lid on and wait ten minutes. No peeking! Dumplings cook equally well when added to a casserole or crock pot meal. The key is having a good fitting lid. Be sure the heat is low so the food does not scorch while the dumplings are cooking.

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