Happy Birthday Soup

Today my sister Kelly celebrates her 31st birthday.  So, what does that have to do with soup, you ask? Well, I will tell you.  The other day I posted the above picture on my Instagram account.  Lately I’ve been on a soup kick.  It’s quick, delicious and warms up hungry bellies. Kelly asked that I share this recipe.  And, since she lives in NYC and I couldn’t deliver her a bowl of this delicious soup on her birthday sharing it here is the next best thing.  Well, maybe I could have frozen her some, but who says I didn’t do that too? 🙂

Creamy Chicken and Corn Chowder

Ingredients
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded (3 cups)
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup butter, diced into 1 Tbsp pieces
1 large red bell pepper, diced (1 1/2 cups)
1 medium yellow onion, diced (1 1/4 cups)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced slightly less than 1/2-inch thick (3 cups)
2 bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn
1 1/2 cups half and half

In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add red bell pepper, onions and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in flour, and cook 2 minutes stirring constantly. While stirring, slowly add in chicken broth and whisk until well blended.  Add potatoes, bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring mixture to a boil stirring frequently, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, 10 minutes or just until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.  Add in cooked chicken, corn and half and half and simmer, uncovered 10 – 15 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Serve warm topped with crumbled bacon.

This recipe is adapted from Cooking Classy.  I choose to omit some ingredients, so the edited version is above for you all to enjoy!

 

Enjoy and…Happy Birthday Kelly!