Heat Up a Cold Winter's Night...

Saturday I stopped by my favorite coffee shop after exercise since I had skipped breakfast and there on the menu board was the Soup du Jour, Poblano Corn Chowder. Boy that sounded good on a cold winter's day- alas it was way too early for lunch.

BUT the thought of that Soup du Jour stuck with me throughout the morning and I knew that back home in the End of the Rainbow Valley the freezer held our summer's bounty of poblano peppers and corn. It was a no brainer what one of our weekend dinners would be.

After combining a couple of recipes, the end product turned out super yummy. How could I not share it with you?

POBLANO CORN CHOWDER

INGREDIENTS:
3 poblanos, halved and seeded
olive oil
20 oz frozen corn, blended
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves fresh minced garlic 
1 stick celery 
4 T butter, divided
1 1/2 c low fat milk ( can mushroom soup)
1/4 c flour + 1 T (unless you use the can of mushroom soup) 
1/4 t salt
1/4 T ground red pepper
1/4 t cumin
1 1/2 - 2 c low sodium fat free chicken broth
4 oz cream cheese, softened
Garnishes: poblano strips/chopped red pepper and ground black pepper to add some color...

 Place poblano halves skin side up, spray with olive oil and broil 6 inches from broiler  5-6 minutes on foil covered cooking sheet until charred and blistered.

While broiling saute onion, garlic and celery in 2 T butter for 5 minutes. Add remaining 2 T butter . Stir in flour to make roux if not using cream of mushroom soup.

After broiling poblanos, wrap them in the foil and let sit for ten minutes. Skin charred poblanos and chop. Set aside.

Add milk, broth, corn to sauteed roux of onion, garlic and celery for 10 minutes. 

Blend in softened cream cheese and stir. Heat 10-15 minutes on low.
Season to taste.
Serve with a crusty peasant bread.

YUM.