Corn Chowder

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A hearty, nice corn chowder, from Vegan with a Vengeance. You can use frozen corn, but I think it's better if you use fresh. I made this the first time with my sweet corn harvest (see photos below). It was exciting to turn my lemon-ears (corn that most anyone else would have sent them to the compost bin) into chowder-ade! The soup has some nice heat, and the maple syrup gives it a slight contrasting sweetness.  And it's easy to make. Serve with nice whole wheat bread, crackers, or salad.

Ingredients
1 T olive oil
1 medium-size onion, diced
1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup carrots, diced
1-2 jalapeño peppers, diced
1 tsp dried rosemary (or more, fresh)
1 tsp dried thyme
A few dashes fresh black pepper
1 tsp salt
3 cups vegetable broth 
3 cups fresh corn (from about 5 ears of corn)
2-3 medium potatoes, sliced into 1/2-inch chunks
1 bay leaf
Pinch cayenne
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup plain almond or soy milk
1 T maple syrup

Instructions
Saute onions, peppers, carrots, and jalapeno in olive oil 7 minutes. Add spices and saute 1 more minute. Add broth, corn, potatoes, bay leaf, and cayenne. Cover and boil, then lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Uncover and simmer for 10 more minutes.

Remove bay leaf, and puree half the soup (using immersion blender, or take half out to a blender, mix, and put back). Add the lime juice, milk, and maple syrup. Simmer 5 more minutes. Tastes even better the next day!


Jeff and Brenda visit for harvest.
















I got almost 2 cups. Okay, maybe a cup and half (I halved the recipe the first time I made it).

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