Clam Sweet Potato Chowder

1 sweet potato 

12 clam chowder clams

8 shitaki mushrooms

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup fat free milk 

Wash your clams with a brush. Drop in a pot of boiling water. When your clams open fully remove them. Take the meat out of the shells and chop roughly. Place the shells back into the water and simmer for 2 hours. Remove the shells and place the clams in the water. Your liquid should have evaporated until you have about 4 cups left. Simmer your clams for 1 hour with the shitaki mushrooms. Peel the sweet potatoes and roughly chop them. Try and keep them around the same size so they cook evenly. Drop them into your soup about 10 minutes before you want to eat it. Finish with your fat free milk. Season to taste. 

Note: taste before adding salt as the clams are salty already. 

I used sweet potatoes in place of regular ones because they help balance the salty clams and earthy flavor of the mushrooms. If you would perfer you can use regular Idaho potatoes. I also finished with skim milk but if you would prefer you can use heavy cream. 

Even though there are few ingredients to this dish the flavor is really powerful. In any dish if you start from scratch and take your time developing the flavor then there is no way you could go wrong! The soup is light and refreshing, but it is hearty and filling at the same time. 

Enjoy!