Sunshine In a Bowl Vegan Corn Chowder

I am beginning to feel like winter is going to last, gee, forever, and that we’ll never have three straight days of sunshine again. I realize we need the rain, but it is so depressing sometimes to just see gray outside all the time. I often find myself longing for the Arizona sunshine, the dry, toasty-warm desert…bring me back to the baked pueblo!!

So, if you can’t change the weather, what can you do? I have the answer my friends, you must bring the sunshine inside, and in your soup bowls even. How? With my all time favorite soup recipe, “Sunshine In A Bowl” as I named it with my daughter, our take on vegan corn chowder.

This stuff is so good! Thick, creamy and very satisfying, even soup haters (or disdain-ers) will be won-over by the delicious sweet yet substantial delectability. Mr. Fish does not like soup, but he flew through two bowls last night. Little did he know in addition to the corn he was taking in broccoli and butternut squash, two vegetables which he says he ‘prefers not to eat’.

Sunshine In a Bowl Vegan Corn Chower

Here’s what you’ll need:

• enough olive oil to cover the bottom of stock pot
• 2 large white or yellow onions, diced (or sweet ones if you can get them)
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 medium stalks celery, diced
• 1 table spoon dried thyme
• 4 medium carrots, sliced thin or cut into matchsticks, your call
• 24oz/about 1 litre vegetable stock, or water with vegan bouillon cubes
• about half of a butternut squash, or one very small one, peeled, seeded, chopped
• Aprox. 700g/1.5lbs potatoes, peeled in non-organic and chopped (I have used pretty much all types of potatoes, it doesn’t change much, just more or less starchy.)
• about 2 cups (maybe 300g) broccoli florettes, cut into small pieces
• 500g/1lb fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1/2 red pepper, diced
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 2 cups plain vegan milk
• fresh chopped parsley or green onion

Begin by warming up your oil and adding the diced onion, garlic & celery. Sauté over medium-high flame for about 5 minutes, then add the carrots. Grind the dried thyme between your thumb & forefinger and add that to the mix, stirring well. Your onion will start to stick a bit to the bottom of your pot, so now add your vegetable stock or water, then add the rest of the veggies. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for at least a half hour, maybe longer, depending on what other million things you are doing! This is also a good time to whip up some Vegan Baking Powder Biscuits.

When all the veggies are tender and your once clear broth is nice & cloudy, add your milk. I let this simmer for about 5 minutes, then I very carefully remove about a third of the soup and put it in my blender making sure to let it cool before putting the top on to mix. Mixing steaming-hot liquids is a very, very dangerous idea, so trust me, wait a few minutes. Mix the soup well, then pour back into the pot. Give everything a good stir. Now you can decide what to do. I usually take out another third of the soup and re-mix. Mixing is also a great strategy when you’re trying to help your family to eat more veggies, but they turn up their noses if they know what they are eating (like Mr. Fish who had no idea there was broccoli in his bowl). It gives the soup a really creamy texture, thickens it up, too. Sprinkle on your parsley or onion for garnish if you’re feeling garnishy.

Enjoy!