Veggie Corn Chowder

Veggie Corn Chowder

Another soup recipe! I believe that you can never go wrong with making any kind of soup for dinner. With a side of fresh salad and crispy bread, dinner is served! So when I'm stuck on what to make for dinner and am short on time, I love relying on soup. I think they're so versatile, tasty, fairly healthy, and you can never go wrong!

And so here is one of my favorite soups to make. It's also a one pot dish, can be made with or without chicken, and is also very versatile. I call it veggie corn chowder. It's thick, creamy, and full of vegetables. It starts off with a basic mirapoix (if you read about or made my Herbed Lemon Chicken and Orzo Soup, you'll know what that is), but since bae (hi bae!) isn't a fan of celery, I usually substitute finely diced tomatoes in place of celery when I know it won't alter the taste or texture of the soup. Not always, of course. I kept the celery in my orzo soup because I didn't think the tomatoes would hold up too well, and I felt that the flavors wouldn't work well, either.

Anyway! Celery here can be replaced with finely diced cherry or roma tomatoes. I actually think the soup tastes better with the tomatoes, too! You can add cubed chicken as well, but this recipe is for soup without chicken.

If you make any of my recipes, I'd love to hear! Feel free to leave me a comment and follow me on Instagram @bakedbylaila! 

VEGGIE CORN CHOWDER
Yields: 6-8 servings, recipe can easily be doubled

INGREDIENTS:
- olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1 cup of chopped carrots
- 1 cup of chopped cherry or roma tomatoes (or celery)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 cloves of minced garlic
- 3 cans of corn
- 2 potatoes, cut up into cubes (can be peeled or unpeeled)
- 5 cups of chicken broth or veggie broth
- salt
- pepper
- garlic powder
- 1.5 cups of milk
- 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
- a handful or two of type of shredded cheese, and extra for garnish
- fresh parsley for garnish

TO MAKE:
1. In a big pot, on medium heat drizzle in some olive oil and add the butter. Melt the butter down.
2. Add the carrots, tomatoes, garlic, and onion. Cook until tender, about 7 minutes.
3. Add in corn, potatoes, and seasonings. Give everything a nice stir.
4. Add in the chicken broth. Stir everything together, and raise the heat to medium-high heat and let the mixture boil until the potatoes are cooked through (usually 25-30 minutes).
5. Once the potatoes are cooked, lower the heat to medium-low, stir in the milk, and sprinkle the cornstarch. It's a good idea to sift your corn starch before adding it to the soup so as to not get chunks of corn starch in your soup (yuck).
6. Let the soup simmer for 10 minutes. Add in the handfuls of cheese to the soup and mix into the soup until the cheese is nicely melted.
7. Serve with extra cheese and parsley. Enjoy!