March is coming in like a lion outside my kitchen window. As the snow is blowing and piling up outside, I need a bowl of soup to warm me up. Something steamy and chunky and creamy will hit the spot. Though I love all kinds of soup, I’ve got to admit, the creamy ones are my favorite.
Now traditionally, any kind of chowder uses milk, cream and butter to give this soup its thick and luscious creaminess. But we can achieve the same effect with plant-based ingredients. And that means there will be very little fat!
And what I like even more is that it uses very simple ingredients that cook up quick and easy. This was a breeze to make for a cold wintry lunchtime.
In my soup pot, I added 3 cups of cubed potatoes. I only used 3 large Russet potatoes which I peeled, then chopped up using my Vidalia Wizard chopper. It makes cubing any fresh vegetable a piece of cake!
Into the pot, I added 3 cups of water to start the potatoes cooking. In the meantime, I diced a cup of celery (which was only 2 stalks for me), one medium onion (about 1/2 cup chopped) and 2 cups canned whole corn. Frozen corn would have worked fine as well, but I had some extra sweet organic canned corn, so into the pot they went.
Now, comes part of the creaminess for the soup. I took 2 more cups of corn, with its liquid and blended it in my Vitamix until it looked creamy (but not soupy). It made a soft, buttery cream to add to the pot. And immediately, the soup started looking like an authentic chowder.
Part 2 to the creaminess came next. I added 3 cups of soymilk to the blender. But I wanted a thicker milk, so I also added 1 cup of quick oats and blended it up til it was smooth and creamy. Then into the pot it went. And the chowder emerged, right before my eyes.
I finished off by adding the seasonings and let it all simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the soup would not stick to the bottom of the pan. Then I turned off the heat and let it stand for an additional 15 or 20 minutes.
It made a big pot of soup, about 12 cups in all. In our family, with my two hungry guys, it’s only going to serve 4 people. But they’re not one-cup soup eaters, especially when it’s a delicious corn chowder.
We enjoyed a plate of cornbread along with it. And a tossed salad would be a terrific side to make this a tasty meal on a cold winter’s day. Or any day of the year. I know we’ll be enjoying chowder all through the year!
Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 3 cups peeled cubed potatoes
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 4 cups canned corn divided
- 3 cups soy milk
- 1 cup quick oats
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 2 tablespoons dill weed
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
Instructions
- Add potatoes and water in a large soup pot. Cook on medium-high heat.
- Chop celery and onions and add them to the pot.
- Blend 2 cups (1.5 15 ounce cans of whole kernel corn), including the liquid in a blender. Process til creamy but not soupy. Stir into the chowder pot.
- Add in 2 cups of whole kernel corn, drained.
- Make a thick soy milk by blending and soy milk and quick oats in a blender. Whiz for a couple of minutes til milk thickens.
- Stir in the milk, salt, celery seed, dill weed and garlic powder to the pot.
- Simmer on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes.
- Turn the heat off and let the chowder stand for about 15 minutes more.
- Serve immediately for a hearty lunchtime meal.
- This soup is delicious with your favorite salad and some home baked bread.
- SERVING SIZE: 2 cups
- This recipe makes 12 cups of soup
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