southwestern black bean corn chowder

southwestern black bean corn chowder

I made a new soup recipe this weekend that was good, really good. Filled with fresh foods and flavor, and short on calories. (You don't have to take my word for it - I know it's good when my wife likes it!)

The Backstory. I ate lunch a couple weeks ago at The Keg Steakhouse, and was amazed by their Southwest Roasted Corn Soup - so much so that I felt compelled to recreate it. Unfortunately I couldn't find a recipe online that looked right, so I cobbled together my own recipe from bits and pieces of several others. Here's my take on it:

Ingredients

• Black Beans - 2 cans (or 3 cups raw). If canned, rinse thoroughly
• Frozen Corn - 1 bag (16 oz, approx. 2.5 cups)
• Rice (white or brown) - 1/3 cup
• Chicken Broth - 1 can (14 oz) low sodium
• Water - 2 cups
• Tomato - 1, diced
• Onion - 1/2, quartered. (large pieces were easy to pick out for those who don't like onions. If you enjoy onions, you can dice rather than quarter it. You could also use more than 1/2..)
• Garlic - 2 cloves, minced
• 1 tsp each of: Salt, Pepper, Oregano, Paprika, Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Preparation

• Bring Water and Chicken Broth to a boil in a medium - large pot.
• Add Black Beans and Corn and return to boil.
• After 5 minutes, remove pot from heat. Move approximately half of the beans and corn to a bowl. Mash (or hand blend) the beans-corn, and return to pot.
• Bring pot back to a boil.
• Add remaining ingredients.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Serve immediately. If desired: top with cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream.

Yield

• Makes 8 servings (approx. 1 cup each)
• 150 Calories per serving (without toppings)

Truth be Told

• Image credit - I got caught up in the moment and forgot to take a picture. I found the image above, which looks fairly similar, on flickr.
• Leftovers - the soup tasted great the next day, too, but it was different. The flavors had blended together, and the cayenne pepper had a chance to permeate throughout the dish, making it much spicier the second day.
• Chicken added - I also added some leftover grilled chicken (cut into chunks) to it the next day, which tasted even awesomer.

That's it - I hope you enjoy it. Give me your take in the comments and let me know what you think..

-Chris Butterworth

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