Spicy Vegetable Chowder

We love one-pot soups in the RV kitchen! So easy to assemble and carries us for several days. It's a quick dinner with bread and salad or have a cup with a sandwich for lunch. At home we use up frozen veggies in this soup, but if you have fresh veggies available it will be even better! 

Ingredients

2 carrots chopped

4 Lg button mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1 15 oz can southwest corn with poblano and red peppers

1 cup frozen white corn

1 cup frozen baby lima beans

1 cup frozen sliced okra

1 16 oz can chickpeas, drained (or black beans or kidney beans)

2-32 oz boxes of chicken broth

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 and a 1/2 tsp fennel seed (more or less to taste)

1 pkg taco seasoning 

salt and pepper to taste (remember the taco seasoning has a lot of salt!)

Optional garnish: sour cream, shredded Colby-jack cheese, chopped cilantro, lime juice

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven and saute the onion until tender, then add the garlic and saute for a minute until the garlic is fragrant.

Add the mushrooms and continue to saute for 3 minutes. 

Pour in the chicken broth taco seasoning, fennel seed, and red pepper flake and bring to a boil.

Add carrots, corn, okra, baby limas, and chickpeas and bring back to boil then reduce heat to simmer.

Simmer until all veggies are tender - about 15 minutes.

This serves four as it is, but if you add chicken or shrimp it could easily stretch to six servings. 

If you choose to add chicken, cook and shred the chicken and add it to the chowder towards the end of the simmering time (give it about a five-minute simmer). If you prefer shrimp, boil the shrimp first until just barely done and then transfer to the chowder and simmer for five minutes. 

Alternately, you can simply put the chicken or shrimp in the individual bowls and pour the chowder over them. In our family we have shrimp and non-shrimp lovers so this satisfies both. 

Optional garnishes at the table: add a dollop of sour cream, shredded Colby jack cheese, chopped cilantro, and/or a squeeze of lime