New England Clam Chowder with Mung Beans

*You can totally make this without the Mung Beans*

This is my first attempt at a crockpot soup. It's pretty basic and straightforward. Naturally, the only crazy ingredients are clams and clam juice, heh.

Crockpot Clam Chowder with Mung Beans and Roasted Garlic

1 head of garlic
1 tsp + 1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
2-3 stalks of celery, diced
2 tbsp flour
1 cup white wine

4-5 medium yukon gold potatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

3 8oz cans clams
1 12oz jar clam juice

1 8oz can fat free evaporated milk
1/2 cup heavy cream

Let's begin by roasting the garlic. Cut the top of the garlic off, exposing the tops of the cloves. Drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and place in a shallow baking dish. Add 1/2 cup water to the dish and bake at 450 degrees for 45 minutes or until the garlic cloves are roasted, caramelized, and deliciously sweet.

Next, in a pan set over medium heat, drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil and let the pan and oil get hot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery, sauteing until brown, about 20 minutes. Add the flour to the veggies and cook an additional 2-3 minutes to remove the floury taste. Whisk in the wine and let it come to a boil and thicken slightly. Transfer the contents of the pan to the pot of a crockpot or slow cooker. Add the roasted garlic and all of the rest ingredients except for the evaporated milk and cream. Stir or whisk to dissolve the roux and break apart the roasted garlic (you can also mash the garlic before adding it to the soup).




Cook on high for 3 hours or low for about 5-6 hours. Add the milk and cream during the last hour of cooking. It's hard to beat some delicious, crusty bread with this soup. Also, for the health factor we've got clams that are great for zinc and selenium, potatoes that provide potassium and a good complex carbohydrate to balance the protein in the milk and clams. Additionally, for being so rich, it's relatively low in fat (since 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 tbsp oil is really the only fat in the soup - about 60 grams for the entire pot which constitutes roughly 6-8 16 oz servings).



YUM!