Vegetables Recipes - Corn, Green Bell Pepper and Chili Chowder Recipe

Ingredients 

• 4 corn ears, with husks, or 2 3/4 cups frozen kernels, thawed

• 1 green bell pepper, halved and seeded

• 1 small fleshy green chili

• 1 3/4 cups low-fat milk

• 1 tablespoon sunflower or grape seed oil

• 1 small onion, finely diced

• 2-3 sprigs of thyme

• 1 bay leaf

• 2-3 small potatoes, finely diced

• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Serves 4-6

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Method:

1. Place the com ears, in their husks, and the green bell pepper, cut side down, in a pan under a very hot  broiler. Broil for 5 minutes, turning the com occasionally, then add the chili.

2. Broil for another 10 minutes until the com husks are browned, and the pepper and chili are beginning to blacken and blister.

3. Peel away the husks and silks, and slice the kernels from the cob. Peel the pepper and chili, remove the seeds from the chili, and chop the flesh of both into small slice.

4. Puree half the com with the milk in a food processor or blender until reasonably smooth.

5. Heat the oil in a saucepan and gently fry the onion with the thyme sprigs and bay leaf until the onion is translucent. Add the pepper, chili, potatoes, pureed com, and the stock.

6. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the remaining com and simmer for another 5 minutes.

7. Fish out the herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper. Puree half the mixture, then return this to the soup in the pan. Reheat gently ad stir in the cilantro.

Note: Tasting mildly of chilies and made with freshly picked corn, this soup is out of this world. It's pretty good with frozen corn too. If you do use frozen kernels, there's no need to cook them before you puree them.