Charissa and I are from New England. Our coastal culture is a source of pride and affinity toward all sea creatures. Meaning, eating them. If it swims, crawls and wiggles, it's fair game.
We've grown up noshing on fish, quahogs, squid, shrimp, crabs, lobster, clam cakes, clam boils, seafood casseroles and bisques.
So it should be no surprise that we sorta had chowder running through our veins, too.
Which is also partly why we were overweight, obese and sick. Not so much from the seafood itself, (though maybe) but from the butter, heavy creams and breading that often married the cuisine.
One day, as often happens here, I had no idea what to make for dinner.
I had a bunch of odds and end ingredients that I couldn't configure into a meal. Potatoes, corn, onions and green onions. And cashews.
But then it came to me.
I'd read somewhere about how to use nut creams as bases in soups and decided to give this a go as a chowder recipe.
Ingredients:
4-5 medium red potatoes, washed & unpeeled and cubed
1 yellow or white onion, diced.
4 stalks green onion, sliced
frozen or canned sweet corn
sea salt, pepper, cracked red pepper
Heat 4 cups of water on high to a boil.
Add potatoes and onions for about five minutes
Turn down to medium high heat, add green onions then let simmer till potatoes are soft.
Add corn, cashew cream & stir.
Add sea salt, black and red crushed pepper to taste.
Cashew Cream:
2 cups soaked cashews (for 1 hour)
4 cups water
Place ingredients in Vitamix and blend till creamy smooth. Put in a sealed refrigerator safe container. Cashew cream keeps for up to 3 weeks.
++++
My husband was just as pleasantly surprised as I was. The cashew cream gave this chowder the creaminess it needed, and tasted great. The pepper, salt and cream added to the soft potato texture, and is just like I remember it back home in New England.
As my relatives would say, "That's some wicked good chow-dahh!"
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