Chicken Corn Chowder

DONE! WOO HOO! YEAH!

It is definately one of the best feelings to be finished with finals! The last week and a half were pretty stressful but turned out pretty good in the end. The closed the courthouse here because of a PERFECTLY timed snow-storm, so I even got out of jury duty without ever having to report! Definately can't complain about that!

Anyway, now that finals are over, it's time to get back to blogging! I have tons of recipes that I need to post, so I need to get to it! I saw this soup back in October on My Kitchen Cafe. Believe it or not, the weather was still pretty mild here, so I held onto it until soup weather. Boy am I glad I did! Melanie talked about how much her husband loved it then, and I think my husband will second that motion. We first had it a couple weeks ago, and he's nominating it for the Christmas Eve soup this year. Fine with me, I really enjoyed it as well.

Look at those veggies - kind of Christmas-like itself...

I really didn't play with this recipe at all. They always say if it's not broke, then don't fix it, so my only swaps were fat-free cream cheese and lighter cheddar cheese. We didn't notice a difference, but we use light versions of products a lot here, so modify or not if you wish. Nevertheless, you really must make this soup! We've got 10-inches of snow on the ground here and may be expecting more next week... if that doesn't say soup, I don't know what does!

(Printable Recipe)

Chicken Corn Chowder - adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 stalks of celery, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeno, finely chopped, seeds and membrane removed

1/4 c. thinly sliced or cooked chopped ham (I used deli ham)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 (14 oz) cans reduced-sodium chicken broth (approximately 4 cups)

3 Tbsp. flour

1-1/2 c. frozen corn kernels

2 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

4 oz. fat-free cream cheese

1 c. skim milk

1/4 tsp. pepper (I left out the extra salt, enough in the broth!)

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Place olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute celery, bell pepper, onion, and jalapeno until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and ham; cook for another 3 minutes. Whisk the broth with the flour in a liquid measuring cup or bowl and then stir into the soup. Stir in the corn and chicken. Bring to a low boil and reduce heat. Whisk together the cream cheese and milk in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk the cream cheese/milk mixture into the soup along with the pepper and cheddar cheese. Simmer on low until ready to serve.