Southwestern Corn Chowder

Dreamer in Ontario's Note:

This is a recipe from Simply in Season and features fresh veggies that are available locally in the summer. You can add one or a combination of cooked black beans, lima beans and chopped, cooked chicken. If you have grilled corn available it'll add a lovely smoky flavour.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• ½ cup sweet onion , chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 ½ cups corn
• 3 cups chicken broth or 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 medium sweet red pepper , chopped
• 1 small tomato (peeled, seeded & chopped)
• 1 ½ fresh limes
• 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro , finely chopped
• plain yogurt (optional) or sour cream (optional)
• Tabasco sauce , to taste

Directions:

1. Add olive oil to soup pot and saute chopped onion until soft.
2. Add corn and broth and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Remove 1 cup of solids plus 1/3 cup of liquid and place in blender or food processor.
4. Blend until smooth and return puree to pot.
5. Heat until almost boiling.
6. Stir in red pepper and tomato.
7. Heat for 1 minute.
8. Immediately before serving, squeeze lime into soup and top with cilantro.
9. Garnish each bowl with Tabasco sauce, lime wedges and a dollop of yogurt or sour cream, if using.

Reviews

[JanuaryBride]

Simple, healthy and delicious. I did add some cumin and some oregano to add the Mexican flare (since hubby doesn't like the cilantro and I needed to add some other flavors). Can't wait to eat this for dinner tonight! And then tomorrow I am going to add some black beans I made from scratch and some chicken breast for a totally different meal later in the week :) Made for our Veggie VIP. . .thanks for posting!

[XQZaMe]

Too bland for me, but provided a good base. I added a handful of dried garlic chips, Cholula hot sauce, a can of drained black beans, about 2 Tbs of chili powder. It's now an excellent, hearty soup with Southwestern flair. Next time, I'll add green chilis instead of so much Cholula. Lime juice is terrific and, as someone else suggested, avacado with sprigs of cilantro. Yum.

[CheapThrills]

Made as written. It was bland (fam does not like Tabasco), even with fresh limes. So I added S&P and chili powder, but it was still bland. Easy to make, but short on flavor. Maybe some chopped green onion on top, or some green chiles, for the leftovers.