Hearty Corn & White Bean Chowder with Shrimp

One of my very favorite thing about summer cooking is the general lack of actual cooking. Ingredients are so fresh, and things just taste the way they’re supposed to. Give me a great tomato with a little salt and I’m a happy girl.

Sometimes though, the lack of cooking needs to turn into actual cooking so that we have things to eat for lunches and on busy evenings. So, a trip to a gorgeous local market was in order to create a dinner that would make for delicious lunches as well.

The pile of fresh corn from a farm up the road called to me, and so this dinner was born.

Now, this recipe calls for the kernels of fresh corn, which isn’t as difficult as it may seem. I don’t have photos for you, but the process is simple:

• Shuck the corn and discard any silk
• Stand the corn up on its flatter end in a large bowl.
• Using a large knife, slice down the sides of the corn cob, releasing the kernels
• Then, carefully use the blunt side of the knife to scrape the remaining corn bits and juice left in the cob into the bowl.
• Check the surrounding counter, floor, and dog’s back for any renegade kernels.

While I used center-cut bacon (lower fat) and shrimp (delicious), you could easily make this pescetarian or vegetarian by omitting one or both of these.

Hearty Corn & White Bean Chowder

by What’s For Dinner?

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Keywords: simmer soup entree side low-carb summer

Ingredients (8 hearty servings)

• 4 cups fresh corn kernels (about 8 ears worth)
• 2 cans white beans
• 4 slices center-cut bacon
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 poblano pepper, diced
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 cups broth/stock of choice
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
• 1 avocado (for garnish)

Instructions

Heat a large (5.5 quart or larger) pot over medium-high heat and add the diced center-cut bacon. Cook until fat has rendered and bacon is beginning to crisp.

Add the onions and poblano pepper.

Lower the heat to medium-low and sprinkle the onion mixture with salt.

Cook until the onions are soft and light brown.

Add half of the corn to the pot, then the beans, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir well, then add the broth.

Simmer over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. (There may be a few smaller chunks)

Stir in the milk.

Add the remaining corn and the shrimp, and simmer over low heat until the shrimp are cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Serve with a garnish of chopped avocado.

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The corn was unbelievably sweet; the poblano lent a beautiful warmth; the shrimp added just a little something extra. The beans though, the beans were quite a great idea if I say so myself. Usually chowders have a significant amount of potato in them to make them creamy and have texture. I’m avoiding simple starches at the moment, so beans were an obvious choice to assist in making this a creamy and hearty soup with loads of fiber.

Make this soon, while the corn is fresh and sweet… or make it in a couple months when its cold and we’re all dreaming of sun-soaked beaches and 9 p.m. sunsets over a beautiful corn field… or is that just me?

This recipe blog post has been Digiproved © 2012

Tagged as: corn, seafood, simple recipe, soup, vegetables