Chicken, Potato and Corn Chowder

This recipe is a slight variation from Cooking Light's Potato and Corn Chowder (January 2006 issue). Like many other cooks, I'm now in love with MyRecipes.com, which is where I found this archived Cooking Light recipe. By finding the recipe online, I was able to benefit from a ton of great ideas for tweaking the recipe based on the reader reviews. See below for the recipe and some tweaks of my own in red!


Chicken, Potato and Corn Chowder
Based off of Cooking Light's Potato and Corn Chowder (January 2006) I added calories with the olive oil, chicken and broth, but saved a few on the fat-free half and half.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray (I used olive oil - I have a cast-iron dutch oven and prefer using real oil rather than cooking spray with it)
  
• 1 1/2 cups prechopped green bell pepper (I took this out based on the reviews)
• 1 cup chopped green onions, divided (about 1 bunch)
• A hefty handful of pre-diced celery and onion mix (I added this in to replace the bell pepper)
  
• 2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1 1/4 cups water
• About 1 1/2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
  
• 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning (such as Old Bay)
• 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 pound baking potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I probably ended up using about 2 lbs. of potatoes.... oops?)
  
• 1 cup half-and-half (I used fat-free and it turned out reat, still. Less fat!)
  
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley (nope.... I don't really care about parsley)
  
• 1 1/2 cups rotisserie chicken, chopped. (I got mine at publix.)
  
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (I added more because te reviews said it was a little bland, and because I added more volume to the chowder with the potatoes and broth)
  
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

Preparation

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray (or about 1-2 tbsp olive oil). Add bell pepper and 3/4 cup green onions (I added the celery / onion mix here) , and sauté 4 minutes or until lightly browned.

Increase heat to high; add corn, (I waited at this step and let the corn do a little bit of roasting with the veggies before adding the liquids - the reviews said roasting the corn gave it a little more flavor.) water, chicken broth, seafood seasoning, thyme, red pepper, and potatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender (it took about an additional 5-10 minutes since I had added more potatoes and broth). Remove from heat, mash the potatoes down using a potato masher or pastry fork so that the consistency thickens a little. Stir in half-and-half, chicken, and chopped parsley, and salt. Place about 1 1/2 cups soup in each of 4 bowls; sprinkle each with 2 tablespoons cheese and 1 tablespoon green onions.