Corn Chowder

Chowder once called "poor man's food" has to be one of the best meals to have on a cold winter night. And since we want to be well prepared for the season that's coming up ahead we are stocking up on hearty recipes. Such as this Corn Chowder we are about to make. 

I like to keep this recipe handy during the colder months of the year because I tend to get big cravings over it. More than that I would like to admit, sadly. To make this dish a lot healthier and not feel guilty about having it so often I made some adjustments to the typical corn chowder recipe. It's now more corn (and veggies) than chowder. 

Chowder is centuries old. It used to be made out of easily available vegetables or fish chunks. Usually, in places where it is really cold and close to the sea. Since a simple broth was not going to cut it, the solution was to add some crackers to the soup. This made it thicker and much more filling. 

Those crackers would spike our calorie count to the ceiling! And to be honest, most recipes are not made with crackers anymore. But it's still quite common to see a little bag of crackers served alongside a bowl of any kind of chowder. I guess that tradition will never go away.

We want to keep things as healthy as possible so we will only use a bit of wheat flour to make this corn chowder thick. That and soy cream will give us the perfect consistency and texture.  

So now we can focus on the veggies. We have a few different ones and I love we can have that versatility in there. This mix will make our corn chowder super colourful, healthy and flavourful. But you are not tied to it, it is perfectly fine to customise it to what you have or what you like.

Other than the corn, of course, the other veggie that's most commonly found in corn chowder is celery. Honestly, I am not a huge fan of celery. I can have it in small amounts and it is fine. But one can only buy a whole bunch at the store. It is usually way too much for a meal like this. 

I'm big on not wasting food so what I do is I put the remainder in the freezer. That way I can use it later. I like adding it to smoothies, that way I don't even know it's there! 

I need to be better at giving celery a chance. Especially because I always preach to my son how important it is that he finishes his food. Even when there are things on the plate that he doesn't like that much. 

I always say that food is also about nutrition and not just the taste. Fortunately, with this corn chowder, you won't have to sacrifice either or. It is packed with nutrients, incredibly flavourful and perfect to make a crisp winter night much more enjoyable! For more amazing recipes featuring corn also try out our Corn Potage.