Summer Squash and Corn Chowder

I guess enough people have nagged me about posting in my blog that it's time to get back to it. :)

Also, I needed to get this recipe recorded somewhere before I lost the photocopy! My lovely friend at work let me copy the recipe out of her magazine, after she made it and brought some in for me to try, and we both loved it. I did make a number of changes to simplify the steps even further; the recipe below includes my modifications.

Summer Squash and Corn Chowder
adapted from Cooking Light magazine

Ingredients:

• 2 slices bacon, diced
  
• 1/2 c sliced green onions or diced onion
• 1/4 c chopped celery
• 1 lb summer squash or zucchini, about two medium, thinly sliced
• 1 lb frozen corn kernels
• 1 1/2 c to 2 1/4 c milk, divided
• 1 tsp fresh thyme or 1/4 to 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 c sliced green onions for garnish, optional
  

Directions:

1. Saute bacon in medium pot until crisp. Remove from pan, leaving some or all of the drippings.
2. Add onions, celery, and squash to pot and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Place vegetables in bowl off heat and set aside.
3. Put about 1 cup of corn in the bowl with the other vegetables; add remaining corn to pot along with the milk. Process corn and milk with immersion blender until smooth.
4. Add thyme, salt, pepper, and reserved vegetables to pot. Add water if additional liquid is necessary. Cook over medium heat until heated through.
5. Garnish with crumbled bacon and green onions.

Comments & Modifications:

• Although I love green onions, I had two smallish yellow onions that were on the verge of nastiness so I used them instead.
• Oops! Forgot to buy celery. It was fine without.
• Oops again! I only had 1 1/2 cups of milk in the fridge, so I made up the rest with water. The pureed corn is so creamy, though, that I hardly noticed the difference.

Verdict: Dan said: "This is really good!" Pretty high praise for something so healthy and simple to put together! This soup tastes like summer to me; I suspect we'll see it again soon.