Chicken and sweet potato chowder
Republished with permission from Chef Gavan Murphy. Read more about Chef Murphy and browse his recipes at The Healthy Irishman.
When you picture chowder, what do see? Well, since this is actually a rhetorical question, I’ll tell you:
You probably picture a cream based, heavy tasting soup, chock full of fish and/or vegetables.
Unless you picture Manhattan chowder, which is tomato based, but then we’re talking about two different things.
Chowder is traditionally quite a high calorie, high fat soup, which, as you’ll see, is the polar opposite of mine.
This recipe of mine is a great idea for a healthy weekend lunch to warm your bones.
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup white onion – diced
1 cup leeks – halved lengthwise, sliced 1/4′, washed (white & light green only)
1/3 cup white flour
3 tbsp. canola oil
5 cups non-fat/skim milk
1 bay leaf
1 (2 cups) large sweet potato – peeled, diced
2 cups shredded chicken – roasted
1 cup chicken broth (if needed)
2 tbsp. fresh parsley – chopped
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat soup pot on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add canola oil. Saute leek and onion for 3-4 minutes until softened but not colored.
Add flour and cook for 2-3 minutes stirring continuously. The purpose here is to get rid of the raw flour taste. Add in milk and increase heat to medium high, whisking until thickened, approx 3-4 minutes. Be careful here not to just walk away. The oil/flour mixture will thicken the milk for your chowder texture so you want to stir frequently to get a smooth consistency and prevent lumps.
Add in bayleaf and sweet potatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered for approx. 20 minutes until potatoes are softened. Stir occasionally. The starch in the potatoes, whilst cooking, will also help the soup ticken (aw, the missus caught thus. An Irish Freudian slip).
Add shredded chicken and cook for additional 20 minutes.
Taste and season with S&P. Finish by adding fresh chopped parsley.
NOTE: If the soup becomes too thick just add in chicken broth (like I did) to achieve desired consistency. It’s easy I promise you.
Let me know how you get on with this recipe. And if you have any requests or questions, please leave a comment! To see more of my recipes and learn about me and my healthy food philosophies head over to thehealthyirishman.com.
Tags: chicken chowder, healthy recipes, recipes, The Healthy Irishman
February 10th, 2009 at 9:54 am
I’d love to have nutritional information for this recipe if you can get your hands on it. It looks fantastic.
February 11th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Made this for dinner tonight and it was fabulous. I love the flavor the sweet potatoes give the soup. This will definitely be added to the “rotation” of meals.
February 13th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Made this soup for dinner last night, and it was great! And, I felt very full after a bowl of this soup and a small slice of bread. I’d also love the nutrition information.
February 13th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
I just made this tonight and I also recommend it. I altered the recipe a bit; I didn’t want quite that much lactase in the chowder so I used: 2 cups skim milk, 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, and 1 cup water. You never would have known that it wasn’t made with cream though. The milk, plus the thickening and sweetness added by the potatoes, gave it a real thick rich creamy sauce. I also used 2 bayleaves and about 1 cup’s worth of parsley.
And, like Katie said, I felt really full after just one bowl. I have about 3 bowls’ worth left over to have over the weekend.
February 16th, 2009 at 10:03 am
I made this over the weekend and it was DIVINE. I used a bit of garlic instead of leek and 1% milk because it’s what I had on hand. I will totally make this again.