Soup is good food

I have soup recipes for you. No pictures, but believe me, both are great! Here in Wisconsin (and nearly everywhere I think) it's been cool and breezy. Throw in some rain, and it's a perfect day for soup. I love making hearty soup when it's cool out. On Monday, I had a delicious lunch at an Indian Buffet, so I needed something light for dinner. I opted for 0 Point Soup. Perhaps I am outing myself here, but 0 Point Soup is a Weight Watchers meal. Without going into too much depth, foods are given points and you eat a certain amount. 0 Point Soup is essentially broth with veggies in it - 0 point veggies (no starches like potatoes, legumes, corn etc). It can be adjusted based on your tastes. Here's how I made my 0 Point Soup:

1 onion (carmelized, yummy!)
3 or 4 carrots (from my garden!)
~48 oz low sodium chicken broth
2 daikon radishes (also from my garden)
4 leaves of kale
a few leaves of Napa Cabbage
Tuscan Sunset seasoning

I caramelized the onions and then added the carrots & radish to cook a little. Then added the broth, the rest of the veggies and seasoning - then simmered for about 20 mins. It's a great filling, vegetable soup. If you need a little extra, some bread to go along side, doesn't hurt -- too much!

My 2nd soup is one I spotted a few weeks ago. It's from The Pioneer woman and is Corn Chowder with Chiles. I had been waiting and waiting to make this. Today was the day.

Recipe: Corn Chowder with Chilies

Prep Time: 10 Minutes  |  Cook Time: 20 Minutes  |  Difficulty: Easy  |  Servings: 8

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Ingredients

• 2 slices Bacon, Cut Into 1/2-inch Pieces (or Smaller)
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1-½ whole Yellow Onion, Diced
• 5 ears Corn, Shucked (about 4 Cups)
• 2 whole Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce, Finely Diced
• 1 whole 4-ounce Can Diced Green Chilies
• 32 ounces, fluid Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 1-½ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt (more To Taste)
• 3 Tablespoons Corn Meal OR Masa
• ¼ cups Water

Preparation Instructions

(Carefully) slice the corn kernels off the cob. Set aside.
Add bacon pieces to a pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Cook for a couple of minutes. Throw in diced onion and stir, cooking the onion for 3 to 4 minutes. Add butter and melt. Add corn. Stir and cook for one minute. Add both kinds of chilies and stir.
Pour in chicken broth and cream. Add salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.
Combine cornmeal (or masa) with water. Stir to combine, then pour into the chowder. Cover and cook for 15 minutes over low heat. If chowder needs more thickening, add another tablespoon of cornmeal mixed with water. Cook for another ten minutes.
Serve with crusty sourdough bread or in a bread bowl. Absolutely yummy!

Now, based on the 1st soup, you can probably guess I made a few adjustments. I did not use heavy cream -- I went with half and half. My cream soups tend to separate - I don't know why - but this one was no exception. It's still good, it just doesn't look as creamy as the picture. I will blame it on the half and half.  Oh, and also only used 1 tbsp of butter. Otherwise, I made it as is and I did the nutritional calculations and it really wasn't that evil of a soup. I did limit myself to one serving. I will have more later!