Surprise!
Our lives are filled with these unexpected encounters. They can be big, like winning the lottery, or small like coming home to a fresh bouquet of flowers. Unfortunately our lives are also filled with bad surprises. Those times in your life when some crappy version of the grim reaper comes out, but instead of killing you he just messes up your life. Like making you trip on that seemingly flat piece of ground, or getting pneumonia. Lately I have felt my life has been inundated with bad surprises (hence the lack of posting).
So I decided I need to stop waiting for these good surprises to come around the corner. I need to create the happy. I need to refocus my energy on what makes me the most excited to live each day. For me that is spending time with my family and friends, and cooking. I stopped creating and trying new recipes. I was just working, gyming, and eating the same few meals each day. I think my mindset was if I just keep in this routine, the bad things will stop happening, but then I also wasn’t allowing room for any good things to happen either.
This week I wanted to make it happen. I got all the ingredients that I needed, all that was left to do was cook. How easy it was to get right into it. The sizzling of the onions as they hit the hot oil. The smell of garlic and paprika filling my tiny kitchen. I was back. I am back.
Smoky corn chowder was the perfect choice. Despite the lackluster colour, one spoonful will have your taste buds singing. It truly is a happy surprise.
SMOKY CORN CHOWDER
Ingredients
- 4 corn on the cob, husks and hairs removed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 cup red quinoa, cooked
- 1 medium white onion
- 3 small red potatoes
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 3 1/2 cup veg stock
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 whole wheat tortillas
- 1 avocado, thinly sliced
- 1 lime
Directions
- Step 1 Pre-heat oven to 375F. Place corn on a baking tray and rub with the olive oil. Once coated, rub with smoked paprika. Roast in oven for about 45 minutes, turning every 15 min.
- Step 2 While the corn is in the oven, dice the onion and chop the potatoes into medium sized chunks. Put a large pot on medium high heat and add a tbsp of oil. Add the onion and potatoes, stirring occasionally. As onions are starting to soften, add the garlic and chili flakes. If your corn isn’t ready yet, turn the burner off and relax!
- Step 3 Once your corn is done, take it off the cob with a sharp knife. Add to the pot on the stove along with the stock, milk, and S+P. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Step 4 Bring oven up to 400F and bake the tortillas on the baking tray you roasted the corn on for about 5 minutes, or until crispy. Break into pieces.
- Step 5 Ladle about half to 2/3 of the soup into a blender and pulse for a few seconds (or use an immersion blender). Add back to the pot, and add cooked quinoa, stir to combine.
- Step 6 Serve chowder with avocado on top, a squeeze of lime and tortilla chips on the side.