Meatless Monday : Grilled Corn Chowder Recipe

I wanted to start a new series on the blog called, Meatless Monday.  These recipes will be of course, meatless but also diary-free and most will be gluten-free or easily converted.  My goal is to share about 1- 2 recipes for Meatless Monday every month to start off, each being my own recipe!  I’m excited to share with you today, the recipe for my Grilled Corn Chowder.  It is meatless, it is diary-free and so creamy and delicious!!  You won’t miss the bacon or the butter.

Besides the fact that this corn chowder is loaded with veggies, you might also be interested to know that it’s only 248 calories per serving!!!  And we’re not talking skimpy portions either.  Most corn chowders come in at double to triple this calorie count.  Also did I mention that it’s loaded with flavor???  So now you’re probably wondering what’s in it?

 

Ingredients:

• 1 chopped sweet onion, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 ears of fresh corn, husked
• 3 medium zucchinis, chopped
• 32 oz vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 oz vegan cream cheese (I used Tofutti)
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/2 chilli powder
• 3 -4 pinches of red chili flakes (optional)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat grill to medium high heat.  Husk corn while grill is preheating.  Rotate every 2 – 3 minutes until browning occurs on each side.  Set corn aside to cool. Once your corn has cooled, you can take a knife and shave off the corn kernels (set aside)

2. Preheat oven to 425 OR grill zucchini. While oven is preheating chop zucchini into thick 1/2″ slices. Place in mixing bowl and drizzle with olive oil about 1/4tsp

3.  Lay out parchment paper on baking sheet and spread out zucchini.  Once oven is preheated, place zucchini in for 10 minutes, flip, and roast an additional 10 minutes.  When zucchini is done, set it aside to cool.

4.  Peel and mince your onion (set aside)

5.  Mince garlic (set aside)

I used the food processor to mince the carrots and celery because this chowder is pretty chunky already!

6.  Mince celery and carrots in food processor (set aside)

7.  Peel and chop potatoes into bit sized cubes.  Steam potatoes for about 15 minutes or until tender (I used a double boiler)

*This is the trick to getting the chowder creamy!*

8.  Take half of the potatoes that you steamed and place them in a food processor with 1/4 cup of water.  You’re essentially creating mashed potatoes (set this aside)

Onions before and after

9. In a stockpot on medium heat, place the remaining olive oil and onion.  You’ll want to cook the onions for about 4 – 5 minutes or until they turn a golden color.

10. Add garlic to cook for an additional 1 – 2 minutes.

11. Then add the carrots and celery for an additional 4 – 5 minutes.  Now add your corn, potatoes (mashed and cubed), seasoning, and vegetable broth.  Give it a good stir.

*DO NOT* add zucchini just yet

12. Slowly add the vegan cream cheese.  I used a spoon to scoop out small even amounts.  If you dump the entire cream cheese into the pot, it will take forever to melt into the chowder.

13. Stir and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes.

14. While chowder is simmering, take your cooled zucchini and chop it into quarters.

This is what your chowder should look like at this point

16.  Once your chowder has simmered for 15 minutes, add the zucchini for an additional 5 minutes.

Serve warm.  For serving sizes, I broke the stockpot up into 6 servings using the bowl you see below.  This is a full meal and a large serving.  You could always go smaller and get more servings.