Fresh Corn Chowder

Over the past few years, I feel like corn has gotten a bad rap.  Too starchy, too high in sugar, etc.  After doing a little more research, I found that fresh corn actually is full of insoluble fiber and vitamins including Vitamin C and folic acid.  Nutritional evaluation aside, it just tastes good!  So, to celebrate the first soup of the season we decided to make some fresh corn chowder.  It did not disappoint!

We started with six ears of local corn from our farmer down the street and grabbed our stockpot.  I also had been wanting to try out a new butter substitute that I had been reading about lately called Melt.  It was easy to use and enhanced the flavor in the corn chowder. 

2 Tbsp Melt Organic Spread or Butter
1 diced onion
1 Tsp Salt
1 minced garlic clove
6 Ears Corn, husked and corn kernels cut off the cob
1 1/2 Cups Vegetable Stock or Chicken stock
1 1/2 Cups Milk (I use nonfat but if you like a richer chowder, use 1% or 2%)
1 red pepper, diced and/or 1 Potato, peeled and cut into a small dice (I forgot to grab a potato at the farm so I opted to use a fresh, sweet red pepper)


1. Place the Melt spread in a stock pot over medium heat and saute the onions with the salt and garlic for 5 minutes.
2. Add the corn kernels, corn cobs (for additional flavor and thickener), stock, milk and red pepper and/or potatoes to the pot and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
5. Remove the corn cobs from the soup and discard.
6. Enjoy

We enjoyed this hearty soup for a couple of days and it was sweet and satisfying.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!