Caesar Salad and Corn Chowder

Kind of a plain meal, but the caesar dressing is made with tofu, olive oil, and seasonings. It was delicious! Of course there was no cheese, but it would have been better with it. The corn chowder was a little boring, but it has tons of veggies in it, it's amazing to think about all of the nutrition that comes in one little bowl.

I also realize that this post will make absolutely nobody want to make either of these dishes. That's ok. Next time you come over to my house, I'll make it and you won't even know it's 'clean'.

Corn Chowder (from Clean Food by Terri Walters)
1 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/4 C. mirin
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 1/2 C. corn, fresh or frozen (I used frozen)
5 C. rice or soy milk (I used regular organic skim milk)
sea salt and black pepper

In large pot over medium heat, saute onion in olive oil until soft. Add celery, carrots, potatoes, mirin and salt and saute 3-4 minutes. Add corn and enough milk to just cover ingredients. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat and puree with handheld blender. Add water as needed to achieve desired consistency. Season to taste and serve.

The main thing with this is all of the chopping involved! I also do not own a handheld blender, so I scooped batches of it into my regular blender, then mixed it all together in a big tupperware bowl to store it so I could eat it for lunch every day for the next week. After eating it so many times in a row I really enjoyed it and looked forward to it. It's very calm and slightly sweet.

Caesar Salad (from Clean Food by Terry Walters)
2 heads romaine lettuce
1/2 C. kalamata olives, pitted
1 C. sourdough croutons

8 oz. soft silken tofu (I used regular tofu because I bought the wrong kind)
3 TBSP apple cider vinegar
3 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP mellow white miso (I used brown miso, because I didn't want to buy two kinds)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
2 tsp. brown rice syrup (I left this out because I couldn't find it)
1 C. extra-virgin olive oil
1 TBSP chopped fresh parsley

Tear lettuce into bite-size pieces and put in large bowl. Top with olives and croutons. In food processor, whip tofu until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and process until combined. Pour dressing over salad, toss and serve.

Some of the ingredients in this cookbook are hard to find. I made several trips to Central Market trying to find everything, and just when I thought I had it all, I'd get home in the middle of the recipe and realize I forgot something. It's fun to experiment with all of the interesting ingredients.