Light and Low Carb Clam Chowder

SweetyGirl

I just made this tonight after combining and tweaking a couple low carb chowder recipes found on the Internet. It works out to about 8 - 1 1/2 cup servings at less than 250 calories per serving. (And I used 3/4 of a stick of butter - no margarine in the house - So it was a little heavy in the fat department..) It rivaled some of our best memories of clam chowders from the coast. If you like it thicker ( we don't), you'll need to add more flour. And the cauliflower takes on the flavors of the other ingredients. I wouldn't be afraid to serve it to company.

½ cup chopped onion
1 ½ cup chopped celery
6 slices Canadian bacon, chopped
1 medium potato, diced small
2 Tbsp. Margarine

Saute above until onion is transparent. If desired, add 2-3 Tbsp. Flour to above and cook for a few more minutes before adding clam broth.

½ head of cauliflower, chopped
1 cup chicken broth (made with 1 tsp. Soup starter or bouillon granules)

In small saucepan, bring cauliflower and broth to boil, reduce to simmer and cook covered until cauliflower is very tender. Puree half of cauliflower and broth until quite smooth.

1 8 oz. Bottle clam broth/juice
3 cans chopped clams, drained (reserve juice)
*Do not add clams until just before serving or they will get tough

Add clam broth and juice from drained clams, along with cauliflower puree and chunks with broth to sauteed vegetables. Simmer until celery is soft.

2 cups 1% milk
Additional margarine or butter to taste
Worcestershire
Hot sauce
S & P to taste

Add above to soup pot, heat to boiling, reduce to simmer for a few minutes. Adjust seasonings and add drained clams.

Enjoy! :flowerforyou:

Aeriel

Sounds great and looks like it would be easy to adapt to my son's dairy allergy. Thanks for posting!

BTW how were the sodium levels with the bacon, the chicken bouillon and the canned clams?

SweetyGirl

Sounds great and looks like it would be easy to adapt to my son's dairy allergy. Thanks for posting!

BTW how were the sodium levels with the bacon, the chicken bouillon and the canned clams?

Sodium, unfortunately, was high - 763. Thanks for asking - I forgot to have MFP track that, so I just changed my settings. That's something I need to watch! However, I think you could easily leave out the bacon and tweak a few other things to compensate if that's a concern. Chicken would be a good protein to sub for clams to make it a chicken chowder, with maybe some carrots or corn thrown in. I just liked the idea of subbing the cauliflower for potatoes. It's really a versatile veg and most people don't know they're eating healthier!

Aeriel

Sounds great and looks like it would be easy to adapt to my son's dairy allergy. Thanks for posting!

BTW how were the sodium levels with the bacon, the chicken bouillon and the canned clams?

Sodium, unfortunately, was high - 763. Thanks for asking - I forgot to have MFP track that, so I just changed my settings. That's something I need to watch! However, I think you could easily leave out the bacon and tweak a few other things to compensate if that's a concern. Chicken would be a good protein to sub for clams to make it a chicken chowder, with maybe some carrots or corn thrown in. I just liked the idea of subbing the cauliflower for potatoes. It's really a versatile veg and most people don't know they're eating healthier!

I try to keep my sodium under control, but it was more for my step father, who has kidney issues and really has to watch his sodium. He is from Newfoundland and loves clam chowder, but my mom was concerned about sodium levels for him. Even fresh clams would probably be better, and turkey bacon is lower sodium too.