Warm Winter Soup

Our friend Nick recently gave my husband two enormous chunks of King Salmon that he caught somewhere on Lake Michigan. Not knowing what else to do with an excess of salmon, I decided that it was high time I experimented with making fish chowder. It was so tasty that I am sharing it here. My recipe is based on http://allrecipes.com/recipe/salmon-chowder/ , but mine is dairy free. I served the chowder with collard greens cooked in an Americraft waterless pot and brown rice. I hope you enjoy it!

Salmon Chowder
Ingredients
1 tsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 medium-large clove garlic, minced or crushed
4 small potatoes or 2 medium potatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
2 medium or 1 large carrot, chopped into 1/3 inch pieces
1 cup vegetable broth, low sodium (I used Pacific Natural Foods, Organic)
1 - 1 1/2 cups filtered water
sea salt to taste, approximately 1/4 teaspoon
ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 1/2 cups cooked salmon, chunks or 1 16 oz can of salmon
(1 tsp. olive oil and 1 T. lemon juice are needed to cook salmon)
3 T. flour (use rice, sorghum, or buckwheat flour to make it gluten free)
Freshly chopped scallions (optional garnish)

Directions
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in 2 inch deep saute pan on medium heat. Saute onion, celery and garlic until onions are tender. Add potatoes and carrots, cook 1-2 minutes, mixing well. Add broth, water, salt, pepper, and dill. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer approximately 15 minutes, or until potatoes and carrots are soft.

If using fresh salmon, rinse thoroughly. Heat 1 tsp. olive oil in saute pan on medium heat. When hot, add salmon, skin down, and cook for approximately 3 minutes. Add water to cover bottom of pan, cover. Cook 10 minutes, add 1 T. lemon juice. When cooked through, remove skin and check for bones; break into chunks and add to broth.

Cook broth with salmon approximately 5 minutes, whisk small amounts of flour into soup to thicken broth. Allow to simmer, covered, another 2-5 minutes. Serve with freshly chopped scallions.