28. Southwest Avocado Corn Chowder

Since we were in our last week of our Wellness Cleanse, I was looking for a vegan recipe that would fit into our restrictions. I found this recipe at http://101thingstodowithtofu.com It sounded good and was easily adapted to the Cleanse.

Southwest Avocado Corn Chowder

4 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno
3 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
1 cup cilantro leaves, reserving a few leaves as garnish
4 ripe avocados, peeled
8 ounces silken tofu
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh or frozen thawed corn
3 cups vegetable broth
4 ounces queso fresco, crumbled (omit for vegan variation)

Place garlic, jalapeno, onions, lime juice and cilantro in food processor and process until finely minced. Add in avocado, tofu, chili powder and salt and process until smooth.

Heat a sauté pan over high heat. Add corn and cook until most of kernels are lightly browned, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes.

Bring broth to a rapid boil in a medium saucepan. Turn on food processor and slowly pour in boiling broth. When all broth is added, pour into a large serving bowl and stir in corn.

Serve warm with queso fresco (if desired) and a few cilantro leaves as garnish.

Changes and Shortcuts: As usual, I’m not a fan of frozen corn and I didn’t have time to deal with corn on the cob, so I used canned corn. I find that canned corn tastes more like fresh corn than frozen does. Of course, I left the queso fresco out.


Results:All of the hot liquid didn’t fit in the food processor at once, so I had to do this in two batches and it really made a mess! The corn also stuck to the pan a little, so maybe just a quick spray in the pan first would be good. The soup was tasty and was somewhat like a guacamole. It was must “a bit much” for a meal—like drinking guacamole--but would probably make a good first course. You also need to eat it when it is fresh because, just like guacamole, it doesn’t save well.

Keeper? I think so.

31. Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

My family is doing the Kathy Freston 21 Day Quantum Wellness Cleanse. We are eliminating alcohol, caffeine, sugar, gluten, and animal products from our diet for 3 weeks. This presents some challenges, but we’re managing. This Cleanse requires really thinking about what we’re eating—and reading labels on everything. This week’s recipe is from the Cooking Light Soup cook book. I had to make some changes so that we could stick to our wellness cleanse.

Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

2 teaspoons butter
½ cup chopped carrot (about 2 medium carrot)
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced (about ¾ cup)
1 (8 oz) package pre-sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon chopped fresh or ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
¼ teaspoon black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 (14 oz) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup uncooked wild rice
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 ¾ 2% reduced fat milk
2 tablespoons dry sherry
¾ teaspoons salt

1. Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add carrot and next 6 ingredients; sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Stir in broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in rice; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour and 15 minutes or until rice is tender.
2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and milk in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add to soup mixture. Cook over medium heat 10 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Stir in sherry and salt. Yield:8 1 cup servings

Changes and Shortcuts:
I used the following substitutions:
Butter = vegan butter
Chicken broth = vegetable broth
Flour = potato starch (you can’t use equal parts, you must use less—the package should have the equivalent)
Milk = rice milk
Sherry = cooking wine

I wouldn’t have been able to make this after work, so I did step one in the morning and just finished the soup when I got home.


Results: Not bad for an experiment. This tasted ok when freshly made, but not that great left over.

Keeper? I don’t think so