Vegetarian Corn Chowder

It was a cold and rainy election day. Since I voted last week I spent time cooking up a pot of a smokey vegetarian corn chowder. By adding smoked paprika and chipotle powder it adds a nice smokey flavor to replace the popular bacon.

Corn Chowder

1 T EVOO
1 T butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 can creamed corn
2 cans corn, drained*
1 can or box of Cream of Mushroom soup concentrate (I used Pacific Natural Foods organic)
5 Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and chopped**
1 box vegetable broth
1/2 cup half and half
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp ground rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 pinch of celery seed
1 pinch of cayenne or to taste

Add EVOO and butter to a soup pot over medium heat, add onions, salt  and carrots and cook until onions are clear. Add corn, soup and broth and stir well to combine. Bring to boil. Add potatoes and spices and cook for 30 minutes. You can cook it longer but 30 minutes will get the potatoes cooked.

Remove the bay leaves.

Use a cup or ladle to move about half of the soup to a blender. Leave vent on blender top open to avoid steam build up and blend to chowderize. Pour the blended back into the pot of unblended soup. I used an immersion blender and ran it through the pot to blend about half of it. Add half and half and let heat through for another 5-10 minutes.

Serve with oyster crackers and a splash of your favorite hot sauce. I added Cholula because it adds even more smokey flavor. 

*This is a great way to use any frozen corn you have in the freezer. 

** I like to peel my potatoes for soups. I don't like the bite of the peel and there always seems to be bits of peel floating around. If you like peel or if you're in a big hurry, don't peel them. It's just my preference. You can also use frozen potatoes if you're in a pinch.