Winners and….Soup Season is On!

Good Friday Morning Everyone! Thanks for another great turnout for the giveaway. 554 of you made in by the deadline and let me tell you, most of you are eating some awesome dinners. I was jealous! I really enjoyed reading all of your comments, it’s fun to see what everyone is eating. Ok, onto our 3 winners that were chosen by random.org:

Abes and Stace said…We had Chicken and Asparagus sauce over brown rice. Ohhh I hope I win!

Rebecca McNair said…Lucky me I didn’t have to think of something to fix last night! We had our trunk or treat halloween party and there was a chili cook off. I had the best tasting chili ever! It was kind of sweet with shredded beef in it instead of groung hamburger. It would have tasted great in a burrito! Yum Yum!!! I can’t wait to make it myself.

Brandon and Melani said…I had a Healthy Choice cheese pizza. I have some baby weight to lose…oh who am I kidding, my baby is 18 months old

Winners, please Email me ASAP with your Address and I’ll have your package sent out. Thanks and Congrats!!

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Now, onto the soup. I have been antsy to start making soup for a while now and finally got started. This corn chowder is creamy and chock full of vegetables. For my boys, I crumbled up some saltine crackers in their bowls and they were all over it. No complaints, yeah! Serve with some rolls and find yourself in heaven! Now, I didn’t put the poblano cream in my boys soup, but give it a try, it makes for a great topping. It’s actually not as spicy as I thought it would be. Enjoy!

Classic Hearty Corn Chowder

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

4 large carrots, diced

1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ lb diced ham

10 fresh ears of corn, kernels removed and placed into bowl (or a 2lb bag of frozen corn)

3 14 oz cans chicken broth

8 oz sour cream

1 cup half and half

Roasted Poblano Cream

1 Roasted poblano pepper

½ Cup sour cream

1. Place olive oil into a large dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, add onion, celery, carrots and fennel. Cook and stir for 10-12 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Stir in garlic and ham until combined. Place half of the corn into a food processor and mix until nearly smooth. Pour mixture into pot with whole kernels. Stir in chicken broth, sour cream and half and half. Reduce heat to low. Season with salt, pepper and garlic seasoning according to taste. Simmer on low until ready to serve. Garnish with cilantro leaves and Roasted Poblano cream if desired.

Roasted Poblano Cream

1. Place poblano pepper under oven’s broiler on a baking sheet or foil. Broil for 15-20 minutes, flipping half way through or until blackened on all sides. Transfer to a brown lunch sack and fold top down to trap steam inside. After about 10 minutes, remove peppers and peel the blackened skin away. Chop the roasted poblano and stir into sour cream. Place a dollop on top of soup if desired.

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This soup below was so good. It is not photogenic whatsoever, but it makes up for it in taste, trust me. If you like artichokes, you will go nuts for this one. It is hearty, chunky and flat out delicious. Would you believe my boys even ate it. Again, I crumbled up saltine crackers in theirs, and they went to town. Just chop up the chunkier vegetables with the spoon and it all blends together. They’ll see the pasta and think it’s cool! I have to say thank you to Andrew Weiss from AJ Gourmet for sending me a box full of awesome products from his website. Do check it out. I used his Roasted Artichoke Hearts that were to die for!

Hearty Spinach Artichoke Chicken Soup

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, finely diced

1 anaheim chili, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

4 carrots, peeled, diced

4 Cups fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped

3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

¼ teaspoon Lawry’s garlic seasoning

12 oz jar Roasted or regular Artichoke hearts, undrained

3 14 oz cans chicken broth

½ lb dry small pasta of choice, I used Barilla’s fiori

1. Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Saute onion, chili, celery and carrots for 5-8 minutes or until fork tender. Stir in spinach and garlic; cook for an additional 3 minutes or until spinach is wilted down. Add cubed chicken; season with salt, pepper and garlic seasoning. Cook and stir for 5 minutes, or until cooked through. Stir in artichoke hearts then pour in chicken broth and increase heat to medium high. Once soup comes to a low boil add pasta and cook for 7-10 minutes or until al dente. Reduce heat to low and serve.