Bacon Corn Chowder

Are you looking for a quickie???  Ok, get your head out of the gutter, it is not that kind of blog. This recipe was SUPER fast (20 minutes WHAT?!?!) and tasted great – a perfect weeknight meal.  When I found it on Cooking Light, there were mixed reviews…most of the negative comments were about the cooking directions, and I have adjusted them based on what I did.  The recipe also originally called for shrimp to be added, but I decided to substitute with some leftover chicken (already cooked) – put that in after the blending step.  To finish it off, I paired the soup with a nice piece of toasted sourdough bread to dip in the soup. 

Ingredients

6 slices center-cut bacon, chopped

1 cup prechopped onion

1/2 cup prechopped celery

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1 garlic clove, minced

4 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels, thawed

2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth 

1/3 cup half-and-half

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add bacon to pan; saute until the bacon is browned. Remove the bacon. Soak up some of the fat remaining in the dutch oven with paper towels.  Chop 4 slices of bacon and put back into dutch oven (keeping two slices out for topping).  Add onion and next 3 ingredients (through minced garlic) to pan, and saute for 4 minutes. Add corn, and cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add broth; bring to a boil, and cook for 8 minutes.

2. Place 2 cups of corn mixture in a blender. Remove the center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape), and secure lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in the blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Return pureed corn mixture to pan.  Stir in half-and-half, pepper, and salt. Crumble reserved bacon over soup.

Recipe Source: Cooking Light