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Bond with healthy clam chowder

by sue rappaport
SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN

Name: Nicole Bond

Occupation: Cookbook author of "Natural Eating's Healthy Cooking with the Bond Girl" (available at Borders Books or (888) 240-3493). She helps orchestrate workshops and seminars for natural eating along with her husband, Geoff Bond, a nutritional an­thropologist.

Home: Cathedral City, originally from Avi­gnon, France
Favorite thing to bake: Desserts
How she got started cooking: When she was first married, a live-in cook taught her how to prepare French cuisine.
Healthy life change: She credits her husband for inspiring her to resolve her numerous health problems by changing her diet to Natural Eating.
Proudest cooking accomplishment:
Entertaining and seeing guests surprised by a wonderful meal that is not made in a conventional way.
Favorite food indulgence: Dark chocolate, raspberries, a glass of wine and macadamia nuts.
Restaurant preference: Peabody's Coffee Bar and Canyon Bistro, both in Palm Springs.
Treasured quote: "We are what we eat."
Advice to novice cooks: "Keep it simple and use only good, fresh ingredients — no packaged food.

Sue Rappaport is a freelance writer in Rancho Mirage.

New England Clam Chowder

One can (28 ounces) baby clams
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 green onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 pounds cauliflower puree (see Puree recipe below)
2 ½  cups soy milk (as needed)
celery salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Instructions: Drain the clams. Set aside the liquid, which will be about 2 cups. In a saucepan heat the olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic briefly. Add the liquid from the clams. Stir in the cauliflower puree and mix well. Add the soymilk to obtain the con­sistency you desire. Bring slowly to a boil. Add the clams and heat all together. Add celery salt and pepper, to taste (be frugal with the celery salt, because of the already very salty clam liquid).

Serves eight.

Purée
1 pound cauliflower florets, fresh or frozen
1 medium white onion, cut in quarters.
2 tablespoons olive oil.
only if needed: 1-2 tablespoons soy milk
½ teaspoon salt
pepper, to taste
pinch of nutmeg

Optional: One can (4.25 ounces) chopped black olives

To make the purée: Together with the onion, steam the cauliflower florets, until tender. In a blender (or food processor) mix the veg­etables with the oil, salt, pepper and nut­meg, to obtain a smooth consistency. De­pending on the quality of the cauliflower, you might need more liquid to obtain this result. Add a little soy milk, if needed. Mix in the chopped olives (optional).

Of interest: This purée is used to thicken the soup. You thus avoid the use of flour and other undesirable, bad carbohydrate thickeners.                       

Note: The purée can also be eaten as a mock mashed potato. Serves two.