Spicy Corn Soup to the Rescue

Cooking family meals during the week is challenging, there is always so much to do. If I convert everything there is to do during the day into minutes and hours, logically there is just no time left for cooking… but time or no time, the end result is that I do cook homemade meals during the week. Even though time is a limited resource, it sometimes works in mysterious ways… One of these ways that works completely against all rules of logic is how time actually expands the more we pack into it. I can attest that I actually get the most done on the days that I am the busiest.

During the week I cook some “usuals”. These are the dishes that we all love; they are homemade, healthy and tasty and I’m always happy to see the kids enjoy them. Besides the “usuals” I often take some dinner requests. This week the husband and kids unanimously asked for our favorite and very popular corn soup. So here it is…

You will need:

2 tbsp. Olive Oil

1 Medium Onion

2-3 Celery stalks

3 Garlic cloves

1 inch Ginger root

6 (4½ +1½) cups Frozen Corn (2 lb.)

¼ cup Sweet Chili sauce

400 ml. (a little less than 2 cups) Coconut Milk

3+ cups of Water

1 tsp. Turmeric

½ tsp. Black Pepper

1 tsp. Salt

1 Red Bell Pepper

You will also need:

Immersion hand blender

Let’s do this!

Like in many of my soups, the start is all about building flavor.

Chop the onion thinly and sauté with olive oil on medium heat.

Meanwhile chop the celery into even cubes and add to the pot. Give it a little mix and allow the onion and celery to sauté and soften for two to three minutes.

Chop the garlic cloves and add to the pot.

Add 4½ cups of frozen corn to the pot. Leave 1½ cup aside to add later. Mix and allow cooking for couple of minutes.

Add spices and salt.

Grate in the ginger root.

Add the sweet chili sauce and the coconut milk.

Add water and make sure the liquid level is about an inch above all the soup ingredients. Cover the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Allow it to boil for couple of minutes then lower heat to the lowest flame and cook (still covered) for 25-30 minutes.

While the soup is cooking you can thinly chop the red bell pepper. Besides adding complimenting sweet flavor to the soup, these thinly chopped red bell pepper cubes also help to create great texture. Chop it into super thin cubes and set aside, this will be the last ingredient we add to the soup after it is completely cooked.

Time to uncover the soup and to get the immersion (hand) blender.

We want to blend in order to incorporate the ingredients together, but this soup actually has an interesting texture and is not completely smooth. Place it in the center of the pot, lifting it just a bit above the bottom surface of the pot and blend the soup carefully moving the stick around to bring the ingredients together.

Speaking of texture…

Remember the corn we set aside?

Add the remaining 1½-cup of corn into the hot soup and cook on a low heat covered for 5 more minutes.

Turn the heat of and add the finely chopped bell pepper. Mix together and…

The corn soup is READY!

You may serve it with chopped parsley, mini soup nuts or with homemade croutons…

Enjoy!

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Quick Recipe:

Spicy Corn Soup-

Chop the Onion and Celery.

Sauté with Olive Oil for a few minutes over medium heat until soften.

Chop Garlic cloves and add to the pot.

Add frozen Corn mix and cook for couple of minutes.

Add Turmeric, Black Pepper and Salt.

Grate Ginger root into the soup.

Add Sweet Chili Sauce and Coconut Milk.

Add Water cover and bring to a boil.

Boil for two minutes.

Cook covered on the lowest flame for about 25 minutes.

Blend the soup using an immersion hand blender.

Add remaining Corn and cook for 5 minutes.

Turn of the heat and add finely chopped Red Bell Pepper.