Comfort Food…that’s Healthy too!
I got together with some friends over the weekend to do some cooking for another friend of ours. When I cook for someone who could use a little TLC, I like to imagine what I would want someone to bring me. Something healthy, easy to serve, filling and comforting would be my top preferences. Well meaning folks often drop off calorie-laden casseroles and take out items that are loaded with sodium and unhealthy fats. Comfort food that’s also nourishing and tasty could be a challenge for some, but that’s my specialty.
This time of year, warming from the inside out is the way to go. Soup is a great choice regardless of circumstance. It’s easy to squeeze in some extra nutrition into the pot, you can stretch the recipe to feed as many as needed, it’s super simple to heat up and if you don’t need the whole pot, soup freezes beautifully. This recipe for corn chowder fits the bill in each category. I love how satisfying and filling it is, while giving you nothing to feel guilty about.
I like to store the extra soup in quart sized zip top bags that I lay flat in the freezer. It’s easy to defrost just what you need, and the soup doesn’t take up much room in your freezer this way. I make soup a couple of times a week and by putting up a few servings for the freezer each time, there is a wide array of choices when you need a lunch or dinner for one.
Cooking with friends is so primal to our sense of giving and well being. One friend had a recipe for corn chowder that was tasty and with a few tweaks it was also healthy, vegan, gluten free, dairy free, low in sodium and delicious. Just what I would want to eat, and just what I would want to feed my family and friends. Nourishing food is good for the body, good for the soul, and good for the heart…for the giver and the receiver.
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Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 large purple onion, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
- 4 carrots, chopped (2 cups)
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 medium potatoes** chopped (1.5 cups)
- 3 cups frozen corn
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups almond milk
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- ** I used Yukon gold. Red Bliss would also work well.
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in soup pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in celery and carrots and continue to cook for another 3 minutes.
- Add garlic, thyme, cumin, salt and pepper to pan and stir constantly for 1 minute making sure garlic doesn’t burn.
- Stir in potatoes, corn, vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
- Add the almond milk and parsley and continue to simmer until veggies and potatoes are tender. 5-10 additional minutes.
- Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper as needed. Use immersion blender to puree, leaving some chunks. If you don’t have an immersion blender, transfer ½ the soup to either a blender or food processor and then return to soup pot.
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