Vegetable Chowder

I don't actually have a recipe for this, so I'll just tell you what I did.

Olive Oil
Butter
Large onion
Garlic
Flour
Frozen corn

Heat some olive oil and butter in a heavy bottomed pat. Slice your onion really thin using the slicing blade in a food processor. This makes caramelization easier. Dump the onions in the hot pot and stir occasionally, until caramelized. Be careful not to burn them.

Once they're caramelized make a little space in the center of the pan and brown some minced garlic.

Add some flour (maybe 1/4 c) and make a roux. Dump in some water and frozen corn and bring up the temperature until it bubbles. Blend until smooth. I like to transfer it to a high-powered blender because it makes it smoother, but an immersion blender is easier and doesn't make a big mess.

That makes the chowder base. Return it to the pan and add whatever vegetables you want and have on hand. I used:

Diced celery
Diced orange bell pepper
Diced potatoes
Chopped & pre-roasted asparagus

I had the raw veggies cooking in the chowder base while I roasted the asparagus in the oven, just because I thought that would taste better.

Then I added a spoonful of vegetable base. You could use chicken base. Or if you don't use stock base, you could just use whatever chicken or vegetable stock or bouillon that you like to use. Thin the soup a bit until it stirs nicely and doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Once the vegetables are cooked through, add some milk for creaminess. Do not let the soup boil once you've added the milk or it will curdle and ruin the texture of your soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

It would be great with cheese in it as well or served with some sourdough bread.