I find it a cruel joke from the universe that some of the most delicious foods on the planet (soups and stews) are also the most unfortunate looking when photographed. The warm, hearty, and magnificently chunky attributes look awful. Now I know my food photography needs some work, and I’m getting there slowly but surely, but I’m never one to let perfect be the enemy of good. So here is a very delicious recipe for vegan clam chowder chock full of russet potatoes, shiitake mushrooms, white beans, cashew cream, and veggies. It might not look like much, but hoooo boy does it hit the spot with a nice hunk of homemade sourdough bread. The secret to the faux clamminess? Nori seaweed. Tah-dah!
Vegan Clam Chowder
Ingredients
Cashew Cream
- 1 cup cashews soaked for at least 2 hours
- 1 cup white beans either freshly cooked or low-sodium from a can
- 2 cups vegetable broth low-sodium
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
Soup
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion diced medium
- 4 medium carrots peeled, sliced into 1/4 inch thick half moons
- 4 stalks celery sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 10 oz shiitake mushrooms thinly sliced
- 2 large russet potatoes peeled and cut into 3/4 inch chunks
- 3/4 teaspoon salt more to taste
- Fresh black pepper
- 1 to 2 nori sheets finely chopped (roll up and thinly slice)
- 3 cups vegetable broth low-sodium
Add at the end
- 1 cup white beans either freshly cooked or low-sodium from a can
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- Juice from one lemon
Instructions
- Preheat a large stock pot over medium heat. Saute onion, carrots, and celery in olive oil with a pinch of salt for roughly 10 minutes until carrots are softened and onion is translucent.
- Drain cashews, and add them to the blender with white beans, 2 cups of veggie broth, and cornstarch. Blend for about 5 minutes, depending on strength of blender, until fully creamy and smooth. Set aside.
- Add mushrooms to cooked onion, carrots, and celery. Cook briefly, for about 3 minutes, just until mushrooms are softened but they still retain their texture.
- Add the potatoes, salt, pepper, nori and remaining 3 cups of vegetable broth, then cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.
- Stir in the cashew cream and gently heat, uncovered, for about 7 minutes, until nicely thickened. Add the tomato paste, remaining 1 cup of white beans, and lemon juice and taste for salt and seasoning. Adjust water to your liking for consistency, maybe an additional cup to thin it out if it’s too chunky for you. Serve with a slice of sourdough bread, some oyster crackers, or saltines.
Notes
When you re-heat leftovers, you might need to add a bit of water if it’s too thick.
This vegan clam chowder is lightly adapted from a recipe for New England Glam Chowder that I found years ago in my well-worn copy of Isa Does It by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Over the years I’ve tweaked things a bit, adding more veggies, using only shiitake mushrooms, and including white beans for some extra fiber and nutrients. It’s one of my all-time favorite soups, and one of the first things I make when temps start dipping.
And since there are mushrooms in this dish, I want to include a small caveat here about eating mushrooms from On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee:
Hydrazines are nitrogen-containing substances that are found in relatively large amounts (500 parts per million) in the common white mushroom and other mushroom varieties, and that persist after cooking. Mushroom hydrazines cause liver damage and cancer when fed to laboratory mice, but have no effect in rats. It’s not yet clear whether they pose a significant hazard to humans. Until we know, it’s best to eat mushrooms in moderation.
–On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee
Also, you should always cook mushrooms before eating them. Insert that GIF from Reading Rainbow here: the more you know! Happy soup season, everyone.
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