Something to cook: Friday night

The rain has finally pulled out, but it's still looking gray out there. Here's a simple supper that you could do with a quick supermarket stop, adapted from Cooking Light's new book, "Cooking Light: Way to Cook." If you've got milk, bacon and onions at home, you could even use the 10-items-or-less lane:

New England Clam Chowder
4 (6.5-ounce) cans chopped clams, undrained
2 (8-ounce) bottles clam juice
4 strips bacon
1 cup each chopped onion and celery
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups cubed red potato (about 5 or 6 medium)
1/2 teaspoon dried or 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups reduced-fat milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup half-and-half
Drain the clams through a colander over a bowl, saving the liquid. Combine clam liquid and clam juice.
Cook the bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and drain all but 2 teaspoons of the drippings. Crumble bacon and set aside.
Add onion, celery and garlic to pan and saute about 8 minutes. Add clam juice mixure, potato, thyme and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
Combine milk and flour, stirring together until smooth. Stir into the soup. Stir in the clams and half-and-half. Cook 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with the bacon.
Makes 8 servings.