Thursday, December 16, 2010

Cheddar Chicken Chowder

We'll serve this yummy soup Friday night as a counterpoint to all the delicious sweetness of the cookies and frosting. It's from Cooking Light but we came across it when it was printed in the Houston Chronicle in November 2001. The best part is kids love it as much as grown-ups, which is good, because it's hard to compete with cookies and frosting. :)

Ingredients:
2 slices bacon
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 1/2 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
1 3 /4 cups diced peeled red potato
2 1/4 cups frozen whole-kernel corn
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2 percent low-fat milk
3 /4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:
Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; cool and crumble. Set aside. Add chicken , onion, bell pepper and garlic to drippings in pan; saute 5 minutes. Add broth and potatoes; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender. Add corn; stir well. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a bowl. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended; add to soup. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, simmer 15 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Stir in cheddar cheese, salt and black pepper. Top with bacon.

Makes 7 servings, each 306 calories, 7.5 grams fat, 25 grams protein, 33.7 grams carbohydrates, 2.9 grams fiber, 58 milligrams cholesterol, 1.6 milligrams iron, 376 milligrams sodium, 193 milligrams calcium.

[Note (12/19/10): when making this in large volumes, be sure to minimize the amount of liquid you add. For the 2 double batches I made this week I used 7 cups each of chicken broth (rather than the 9 cups the recipe listed) and 3 cups of milk rather than 4.]

[Note (12/15/11): a 3-pound bag of red potatoes yields just over 7 cups of peeled diced potato. And a 2-pound bag of frozen whole kernel corn is just about 7 cups so you'll need 2.]

[Updated 12/15/13 to add photo.]

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