Punkin' Corn Chowda

This is my absolute favorite soup to make during the cold months. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and its chock full of vitamins and minerals like calcium, magnesium, selenium, iron, folate, vitamins A, B, C, and E!

Pumpkin Corn Chowder:

1/4 c olive oil
2 medium leeks, finely diced (you can also use onions)
2 large carrots or 3 medium carrots, chopped
Saute in large soup pot for 15 minutes.

Add 8-10 cups of vegetable broth (depending on how thick you want the soup) and bring to a boil.
Add 2 medium potatoes, diced
1 1/2 tsp salt
lots of ground pepper
dash of cayenne pepper (or more if you're a spice junky like me)
1/4 tsp ground clove
Simmer for 30 minutes.

Add 29 oz can of pumpkin (thin with soup first, otherwise pumpkin gets clumpy)
2 cups frozen or canned corn
Cook additional 5 minutes

Voila!! A hearty and healthy way to warm up when its freezing outside. I personally love the ground clove/cayenne pepper combination and use it in other soups too.

Sidenote: Here is my philosophy on soups: Don't go out and buy ingredients for soups. You can make this, and any, soup using stuff you already have. Use chicken broth instead of veggie, use celery instead of corn, throw in some spinach, use cumin instead of cayenne, whatever!!

Sidenote 2: For an easy and sustainable way to make your own veggie broth, just collect the not-so-edible parts of your vegetables in a bag and keep them in the freezer. When you have a lot of them, simply boil them for a couple of hours, and then discard the veggies in the compost. Be careful of what you save in the freezer - while onion peels, broccoli stems, and leek greens keep nicely, bell pepper caps and leafy matter will get slimy.