Soup 30: Roasted Red Pepper with Spicy Corn Salsa

Wow!  Over 2 months since my last post!  Life has been busy, but there has been plenty of soup making (just not enough blogging time).  So to get myself going again, I dusted off the new cookbook and found a recipe that I knew wouldn't fail me.  Roasted bell peppers, corn salsa!  Bring it on!

This soup gets 5 stars.  Easy-to-find. healthy ingredients, easy prep, and quick cooking.  Oh and it's delish!   What's not to love!

I began with sauteing onions and garlic in olive oil for about 5 minutes and then added the roasted peppers and potatoes to cook for a few minutes more.  I added the broth and bought to a boil and let simmer for 25 minutes.

While that was brewing, I began the corn salsa. I put the fresh corn, husks and all in the microwave for 7 minutes, just to get it a tad soft and easier to get off the cob.  The recipe says frozen corn can also be used, but I'm all about the crunch, so fresh corn was a MUST!.  I let it cool and cut the kernels off the cob.  I sauteed the jalapeno and green onions for just a few minutes.  I then added the corn and cooked for and additional 2 minutes, enough to combine the flavors but keep the kernels crisp.  I added a pinch of salt and pepper and transferred to a serving bowl to let the family garnish their soup to taste.

With the soup done simmering, I used my hand blender to blend into a puree.  The soup needed hardly any extra seasoning, but I added a pinch of salt and pepper just out of habit and stirred in a dollop of creme fraiche (since I had it on hand - but the recipe called for sour cream).

We ate the soup as an appetizer with some chicken and carne asada tacos. The family LOVED it.  Even the picky eaters!  My only complaint was the texture of the soup.  I would have liked it to be a little thicker.  The recipe called for 1 24 oz. jar of roasted red peppers.  Trader Joe's had a 12 oz jar, which I purchased 2. But if (more like when) I make this again, I may try to use more peppers or less broth to thicken it up.  The flavor, however, was perfect and the corn helped to make the soup more satisfying and a little kick with the bits of jalapenos.  And it looked so pretty with the corn salsa!

Soup Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons olive oil / from home
1 yellow onion, diced / Real Produce/ $0.26
2 cloves of garlic, minced / from home
1 24 oz. jar roasted red bell peppers, drained / Trader Joe's / 2 @ $1.99 = $3.98
1 russet potato, peeled and diced / Real Produce / $0.44
4 cups chicken broth / Smart & Final / $2.49
1 Tablespoon sour cream / from home

Corn Salsa Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter / from home
1 minced jalapeno / Fresh Produce / $0.05
1 tablespoons sliced green onion / Real Produce / $0.39
Kernels from 2 ears of corn / Real Produce / $1.00

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 min
Servings: 6-8
Taste: 5 stars
Prep: easy
Cost: $8.61 ($1.43 per serving)

Soup 26: Seafood Corn Bisque

I was soooo excited to make this soup. The original recipe called for crab, although the title gives the final ingredients away. I would have loved to use crab but could not find fresh crab meat anywhere (and I was not about to cook a whole crab and scoop out the meat). Despite the audible, the soup cam out amazing! I'd make this again in a heartbeat.

Most of the ingredients I found at the farmer's market. I did, however, have a hard time finding the crab meat. I was not about to use imitation crab, so when I came up empty at Safeway, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, I decided to use a package I found at Trader Joe's that had shrimp, scallops and calamari. It was perfect, but I would like to try this again with crab.

First, I had to de-kernel the corn. *Note to self - sharpen my knife.* This got a little scary, but I somehow managed to not cut any fingers off. Check out this video for pointers on how to remove fresh corn kernels.



The next step was to sautee the corn and leaks stirring for 6 minutes. I added the garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes and cooked for a minute more. I then added 4 cups of broth and brought to a simmer. I let simmer for 30 minutes.

While the soup simmered, I cooked the seafood in a separate pan, careful not to over cook. Once the soup cooked, I blended with a hand mixer until slightly chunky.

The original recipe called for half and half and sour cream. As much as I love those two ingredients, I wanted to try my best to keep it low cal. I substituted for a fat free half and half from Trader Joe's and a fat free sour cream. I whisked these in and seasoned with salt, to taste. I added a ton of basil, which really, really added to the flavor. Right before serving, I added the seafood. ALL of it!

YUMMY! The soup tasted great. The fam enjoyed it too. The substitutions worked well -the seafood, fat free sour cream and half and half. I do wonder if the soup would have been a little thicker with the full fat ingredients, but since the taste was still good, I don't think I would add the fat and calories next time. I might, however, add some diced potatoes or something else to thicken it up a bit, or simply adding less broth may work too. But overall, the flavors were awesome and this soup gets 5 stars.






Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil / from home
4 cups fresh corn kernels 7 ears of corn /$6.00 / Farmer's Market
2 cups chopped leaks / $2.00 / Farmer's Market
1 tablespoon garlic / from home
kosher salt / from home
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes / from home
4 cups chicken stock / $1.99 / Trader Joe's
1/2 cup fat free creamer/$2.49 / Trader Joe's
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream /$1.29 / Trader Joe's
Seafood mix / $7.99 / Trader Joe's
3 tablespoons julienned fresh basil / $1.00 / Farmer's Market

Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Servings: 5
Taste: 5 stars
Prep: medium
Cost: $22.76 ($4.55 per serving)