A Kick in the Mouth

Personally, I tend to associate corn with the sunnier, summer months of the year so perhaps it's due to the unseasonably warm winter we're experiencing up here in the City that I was inspired to try this super delicious- and equally easy to prepare- corn chowder. On those nights it does get a little chilly, this soup will warm you right up! Fair warning: It is on the spicy side!

                          Tangy Vegan Crockpot Corn Chowder

Gather your ingredients:

• 2 (12 ounce) cans whole kernel corn
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 3 potatoes, diced (I used two sweet potatoes and one baking potato)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 red chile peppers, minced (I accidentally put three in mine! Whew!)
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
• black pepper to taste
• 1 3/4 cups soy milk
• 1/4 cup margarine (I added one tablespoon of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!)
• 1 lime, juiced

Chop your veggies and throw all ingredients (except the milk and butter) into your crockpot. Set it on "Low" for 7 hours. Carry on with your busy life in the meantime. ;)

After seven hours, transfer your soup into a blender and allow it to pulsate into creamy goodness. Return the soup to the crockpot and add the milk and butter. Stir and allow to continue heating for another hour.

Eat up! I put together a spinach salad w/ baby tomatoes, mozzarella cheese shavings, and apple slices to accompany this hearty soup.

The recipe I followed comes from the AllRecipe website. I followed it for the most part but I decided to use a little less butter in my own soup. No wonder my soup was so SPICY- I also added an extra red chili pepper by accident! Stick with one or two to be safe. Let me know what you think!

Also, here are a few fun facts about corn: 

- The high amount of fiber present in corn helps lower cholesterol levels and also reduces the risk of colon cancer. 

- Corn, if consumed in moderate quantities, has been seen to be beneficial for those suffering from diabetes. 

- Those suffering from anemia have shown positive effects after consuming corn. (This factoid is music to my borderline anemic ears!)

- Owing to the presence of thiamin, corn has been said to help in the metabolism of carbohydrates.

- Regular consumption of corn, in moderate quantities, has been associated with better cardiovascular health.