Sweet Summer Corn Chowder

Corn is in season and MAN is it good this year!! When I was making this recipe this week I ate some of the corn raw and it was so sweet I wanted to keep eating, but knew if I kept eating it raw, I would pay a certain price, haha. **toot**

Paired with new potatoes just out of the ground and rice milk to keep it light, this recipe is out of this world tasty and so healthy and light for Summer digestion, especially when paired with my basil pesto!

Sweet Summer Corn and Potato Chowder with Basil Pesto

Makes 8-10 servings

This recipe calls for a few extra steps, but it is so worth it.

Corn Cob Stock

4-6 ears of the freshest, sweetest corn you can find

1 tsp fennel seeds

½ tsp cracked black pepper

4 quarts water

Salt to taste

In a large bowl, shave all the corn off your cobs. I like to use a big wide bowl so that none of the kernels escape. Hold the top of the corn with the butt end in the bowl (make sure to break off any remaining stalk at the bottom so you have a relatively flat surface). Then cutting as close to the cob as possible, pass your knife down to cut all the kernels off. Turn the cob and repeat until your cob is clean and all the corn is in the bowl. Reserve the corn kernels for later.

Put the cobs and spices (except salt) into a pot large enough to hold them and 4 quarts of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the liquid has reduced and the level has gone down about 2 inches. Taste and add salt to your preference. Ideally it should taste like a liquid version of eating corn on the cob.

Strain stock through a mesh strainer and reserve just the liquid.

NOTE: You can absolutely skip this step and use water instead, but I think the corn cob stock adds another layer of flavour that makes the whole dish shine.

Chowder

3 Tbsp coconut oil or ghee

1 tsp ground fennel

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp turmeric

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp smoked paprika

¼ tsp chili flakes

1 sweet onion chopped into ¾ inch

1 red pepper chopped into ¾ inch

4-5 yellow new potatoes cut into ¾ inch cubes

Reserved corn

Reserved corn stock or water

1-2 quarts rice milk

Salt to taste

In a 6-8 quart soup pot with a heavy bottom, melt coconut oil over medium heat. Add spices and stir, adding more coconut oil as necessary to form a loose paste. Once spices are fragrant, add the onions and a few generous pinches of salt. Saute until onions begin to sweat and turn translucent. Add red peppers and potatoes and stir to combine. Add the corn, corn stock or water, and 1 quart of rice milk and see how far the liquid covers the vegetables. The liquid should cover the vegetables by at least 2-3 inches as it will reduce as it simmers.

Bring to a boil and then lower heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Taste for salt and add more as desired.

Optional: Turn off the heat and use an immersion blender to partially blend soup. This step really makes the texture and flavour come together, but if you do not have an immersion blender, I would skip as blending hot liquids in regular blenders usually leads to explosions.

Serve hot or room temperature with a dollop of Basil Pesto

Basil Pesto

2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves

¼ cup pine nuts, toasted

¼ cup olive oil spiced with ⅛ tsp asafoetida (hing) and ½ tsp black pepper

1 cup nutritional yeast

Juice from one lemon

1-3 Tbsp water

Salt and pepper to taste

Make your oil: In a very small saucepan or skillet, heat ¼ cup olive oil over low heat. Add the asafoetida and black pepper and cook until fragrant and asafoetida begins to brown slightly. Set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the normal blade, put the pine nuts, basil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, ¼ tsp fresh black pepper, and ¼ tsp salt. Blend until a chunky paste starts to form, scraping down the sides as you go.

Add your oil, drizzling it in as you run the machine, if possible. Then add water, tablespoon by tablespoon, until pesto is desired consistency. Some folks like it thicker, others prefer a little looser.

Check for flavouring, adding more of whatever seems necessary. You know it’s done when you want to eat the whole bowl of it.