My husband and I love thick, hearty chowders but they can be really high in calories and unhealthy fats. This easy one pot recipe gets body from pureeing a portion of the vegetables (which include potatoes) and additional creaminess from almond milk, a source of heart healthy fat. It also features smoky flavor from chipotle pepper and smoked paprika.
Ingredients:
3 celery stalks, sliced thin
3 cups red potatoes, diced (or you can substitute sweet potato for some or all of the red potatoes, as I did)
half an onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 large bell pepper, diced
Salt to taste
3 cups low sodium vegetable broth, divided
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk
1 individual chipotle pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
There is something so beautiful about a colorful pile of chopped vegetables. It doesn’t take nearly as long as you would think to do this!
Heat about 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth in a Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. I used my favorite cast iron as you can see. Add all of the vegetables and sauté for 5-6 minutes until they begin to soften.
Add the remaining broth to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. At this point I brought out my stick blender and processed for just a minute or so. You don’t want all the vegetables to be pureed completely. Leave plenty of nice chunks.
If you don’t have one of these “sticks” you can transfer 2 or 3 cups of the soup to a regular blender and process. Be careful, hot soup in a blender can be dangerous. Make sure to vent the lid and cover with a towel to prevent disasters.
Stir the blended soup back into the pot (or simply stir if you used the stick blender.) Stir in the chipotle pepper, black beans, smoked paprika and almond milk and cook until the beans are heated through.
Speaking of my love of all things chipotle (weren’t we?), this is what you’re looking for when you go to the store. They are canned, smoked, jalapenos in adobo sauce.
They are plenty spicy so you want to handle carefully. I used just one in the recipe and chopped it using my handy Pampered Chef chopper. Of course you could use a knife but my chopper does a great job of milling the pepper into a fine pulp.
With beans, potato, and corn, this soup is hearty enough for a full meal. I like to top it with cubes or slices of avocado. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!