Southwestern Polenta Chowder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1 (14 ounce) can mild chilies and liquid
6 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup vegan cheddar style cheese, optional
salt and pepper, to taste
1. Heat the oil and saute the onion and garlic, saute until onion turns opaque. Add the tomato, chilies, corn and broth and bring to a simmer; cover and cook for 15 minutes.
2. Remove the cover and pour cornmeal into soup while whisking constantly. Continue cooking for 10 minutes, stirring periodically and scraping the bottom of pot with spoon to remove any cornmeal that might have stuck there.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro, lemon juice and vegan cheese, if using. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Enjoy!
SO HOW'D IT GO?
The flavor per the recipe was somewhat "hollow" and a bit on the bitter side for some reason, so I added maybe 1/4 cup of olive oil and 2 or 3 tbsp of honey, which made it quite a bit richer and got rid of the bitter taste as well. I also tossed in about 1/2 tsp of chili powder and a dash of cayenne pepper. With these modifications, all three of us really enjoyed it, and one of "us" can be pretty hard to please. XD I served it with a batch of hot-from-the-oven oatmeal dinner rolls. YUM! Thanks for the recipe.
The whole family enjoyed this one. My chowder had more of a soup consistency, but was very tasty. I went with the addition of beans as well.
I cooked a giant vat of pinto beans that were looking for a home so I thought I would give this soup a try.
I made it pretty much as advertised, with the the only differences being that I used 2 cups of tomatoes and 5 cups of stock, and added 2 cups of cooked pinto beans to make it a more hearty meal.
It wasn't bad but I felt it was missing something. Maybe some cumin or other spices to add more flavour. I would also recommend adding even more tomatoes vs stock, because the tomato flavour seemed to get lost. It looks like that person that added a picture did this because my soup was far less red then that picture.
Overall, worth a try but you might want to tweak it.
This was fast and oh so yummy. I added 7 cups of water to the onion garlic mixture and brought it to a boil and then added three bullion cubes instead of veggie broth, then I added a whole can of crushed tomatoes and a small can of HOT chilies. I wouldn't recommend adding your frozen corn so early or else you will get over cooked corn. I let the flavors meld and added a little chipotle seasoning. Then I added 2/3 cup of the cornmeal, I added my frozen corn here, but I would recommend waiting until the last 5 minutes. Fresh cilantro really gave this chowder a special something! I toasted bread and spread avocado on top as a side dish to this. This made a TON too, I will be eating this for the next two days.
This is also great with avocado in it. Just be sure to add the cubes or slices to the individual servings of warm soup rather than before it's finished cooking. Hot avocado is yucky ;)
I made this for dinner tonight. I added a can of pinto beans and made it with water and a veggie bullion cube, and it was sooooo good. Omnivore housemate agrees. Yummy! Thanks for sharing.