(Lighter) Corn Chowder with Pepper Jack Cheese

I think of all the peak food seasons in the summer, I look forward to corn season the most.  It lasts such a short time and there is really no substitute during the rest of the year that even comes to close to the amazing taste of fresh sweet corn.  I grew up eating a lot of corn in the late summer months, but never really ventured far from eating it straight off the cob with a bit of butter, salt, and pepper.  We didn't need to try anything else when it was so good that way!

When I saw a fresh corn soup on Oh My Veggies a couple of months ago, I commented that I'd never heard of a warm corn soup, and I think I was the only one who hadn't!  Once I thought about it though, I realized that these warm corn soup lovers were probably on to something amazing that I'd been missing out on for far too long.  I tested it out one night by basically dumping some corn and milk in a pot then blending it, and it was delicious.  Then I imagined how much better it would be with a bit of wine, chicken stock, potatoes, and cheese to make a chowder, and got right on it!

I found a recipe for a white cheddar corn chowder on Whole Living that didn't use butter, flour, or heavy cream, but still allowed for a bit of indulgence with potatoes and a small amount of cheddar cheese (which I replaced with pepper jack for a bit of spice).  Even though it was much lighter than say, Ina Garten's cheddar corn chowder with bacon, half-and-half, butter, and tons of cheese, it didn't taste light at all!  This was so thick, rich, and comforting, but with the bright summer flavours of fresh corn.  It was one of those meals where I could not wait to eat leftovers and was so sad when it was gone.  I cannot believe I've been missing out on corn soup for so long - don't miss out like me and make this while fresh corn is still in season!

P.S. Don't judge this dish  by the photos! It's hard enough to photograph soup but I took these in poor lighting late in the evening - trust me that it's a lot better than it looks here!

Corn Chowder with Pepper Jack Cheese

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living via Whole Living

Serving sizes for soup are difficult to estimate, but I’d say this makes about 3 main course servings or 6 side dish servings

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, diced

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 cup dry white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)

2-1/2 cups peeled and chopped (1/2 inch pieces) yellow potatoes (about 3 medium potatoes)

2 cups low-sodium fat-free chicken broth

1 cup skim milk

3 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 3-4 ears of corn)

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

2 oz pepper jack cheese, grated

Additional grated pepper jack cheese for topping, if desired

Directions:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and cook until softened, stirring often, about 4 minutes.  Add the celery and cook until tender, about 4 minutes.  Add the coriander and cumin and stir for about 30 seconds.  Add the wine, raise heat to medium-high, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, for about 2 to 3 minutes. 

Add the potatoes, chicken broth, and milk, and bring to a boil, skimming any foam that forms on the surface.  Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Add corn and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  Remove soup from heat.  Transfer 2 cups of soup to a blender, let cool slightly, remove the plastic stopper from the blender lip and cover with a paper towel, then puree.  You can puree a larger portion of the soup if you prefer a smoother soup.  Return the puree to the rest of the soup in the saucepan, stir, and reheat if necessary.  Add grated cheese and stir until mixed in.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour into bowls and top with additional grated cheese and pepper if desired. 

Summer Vegetable Tian

I thought I would sneak in this recipe while I still can, considering it has the word summer in the title and summer is almost over! Even though the last day of summer is technically September 22, I feel like it unofficially ends after Labor Day, which is coming up ridiculously fast!

A tian is basically a dish of layered vegetables that’s baked like a gratin, with a topping of breadcrumbs and cheese. This tian is a great way to use up all your summer vegetables, but is also highly adaptable to whatever vegetables you happen to have on hand. I used zucchini, eggplant, tomato, and potatoes, then topped it with Italian breadcrumbs and parmesan. The topping is also pretty versatile – I’ve seen versions without any cheese on top and some that have a blend of multiple types of cheese all melted together (I bet that version would be amazing!)

Here's a picture to give you an idea of the size of the vegetables I used - I tried to pick ones that were roughly equal in diameter so they would stack together nicely.

And here's a picture after they were all sliced up. I didn’t end up fitting all the zucchini into the dish, though I probably could have if I had tried hard enough.

This was a really comforting dish that was full of flavour from the different types of roasted vegetables. It was also really easy to make – the hardest part was probably slicing all those vegetables, but if you’re lucky enough to own a mandoline then it would probably be a breeze! This would be a great warm side dish for the coming month when summer vegetables are still around but the weather is getting a little cooler.

I know the picture at the top of this post makes the dish look really boring and strange, but it was hard to make it look good once it got all covered up with the breadcrumbs. You’ll just have to trust me that this tastes much better than it looks! Here’s a pic of the veggies before they went in the oven – they were much prettier at this stage!

Summer Vegetable Tian

Adapted from Budget Bytes and Williams Sonoma

Serves about 6 as a side dish

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/2 large yellow onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 medium zucchini

2 white potatoes (or 1 russet potato)

2 medium tomatoes

1 medium eggplant

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon each)

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic and sauté until onion is soft and translucent, 5-10 minutes. Spread mixture over the bottom of the 8x8 dish.

Thinly slice the zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant (no need to peel any of them). Toss all the sliced vegetables in a large bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil and the seasonings (thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper) until all vegetables are coated.

Layer the vegetables vertically in the dish in overlapping rows, in an alternating pattern. Cover the dish with foil and bake at 400°F for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix the parmesan and breadcrumbs together. Once vegetables have cooked for 30 minutes, remove foil and top with the breadcrumb mixture. Return to oven and bake for another 15 minutes uncovered, until breadcrumb mixture is golden brown.

Let stand 5-10 minute before serving – vegetables will be hot!

Microwave Potato Chips

I, along with many people I'm sure, have a love-hate relationship with chips. Love because, obviously, they taste delicious and come in so many tempting flavours. Hate because, obviously, they are addicting, and true to the popular Lays slogan, you can't eat just one. I am most definitely not one of those people (like my sister) who can daintily eat just a few chips then put the rest away, so that the bag lasts until the chips get stale. I can usually stop myself at half a bag (I'm talking a full sized bag), but there's a good chance the rest will get polished off the following day. I try to only buy the baked chips which are not nearly as bad as regular ones, but that just seems to give me an excuse to eat even more.

So when I first realized you can make potato chips at home, I was all over it. Homemade chips allow you to control the amount of fat that is added to the chips, as well as the serving size you have available to tempt you with. I thought that sticking to just one potato and baking it in the oven would be a great way to control my chip obsession. Unfortunately, I didn't have much success with the common oven baking method. Some chips would end up completely burnt, while others would still be raw. And by the time the oven was finally heated and the potatoes were cooked, I would usually have satisfied my snack craving with something else already.

So when I saw a post on Savory Sweet Life a while ago claiming that you could make potato chips in the microwave, I was a bit skeptical but more than willing to give it a try. And I was so glad I did - the chips come out perfectly crispy and evenly cooked in as little as five minutes. I've since made them many times, always with great results.

Microwave Potato Chips

From Savory Sweet Life

Serves 1-2
 
Slice up a small potato (russet or white potatoes work) as thinly as you possibly can. A mandoline would be ideal to use, but I’ve been able to do it with a really sharp knife. Alice at Savory Sweet Life says to only slice as much as you can fit in one batch at a time, because if you leave some slices sitting out waiting they will turn pink.

Cut out a piece of parchment paper to fit your microwave tray. Spray the parchment with non-stick cooking spray and lay out your potato slices in a single layer, making sure they don't touch. Spray the tops with the cooking spray and season. I like salt, pepper, and oregano, but feel free to experiment with other spices!

Microwave on high for 4-5 minutes until the chips are golden. The time will vary depending on the microwave and size of the chips, so just keep an eye on them and stop once they start turning brown. Alice says to turn off the rotating function on your microwave but I have no idea how to do that and I find they turn out great with the rotating left on (I would imagine this also helps them cook more evenly).

Repeat with the rest of the potato. Enjoy!

If you want more traditional chip flavours, you can also use popcorn seasonings like salt and vinegar or dill pickle. My favourite chip flavour is ketchup, so I love coating both my popcorn and these chips in ketchup seasoning.

Side note: I was recently shocked to learn that ketchup chips don't exist in the States - how can this be?! I love making grocery shopping trips to the States specifically because their grocery stores have so many new and exciting products that we don't get here in Canada, but I don't think I could ever live without ketchup chips!

I'm wondering what chip flavours I can try next .. maybe some curry chips, or lemon pepper chips? If you've tried any good combinations, let me know in the comments!