Potato-Corn Chowder

So the weather has been being tricky lately. We get a whiff of Spring in the air, and then it snows. One day we are outside working on garden projects, and the next bundled up in the house. So for this snowy Monday, as we are cozy in the house daydreaming of getting the garden growing, I made Rustic Potato-Corn Chowder for dinner. I got the recipe from Paula Deen's Quick and Easy Meals Magazine for May 2009 and modified it slightly to be vegetarian and use items we had on hand.

1/4 cup butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 pounds of red potatoes, but into 1/2 inch pieces
4 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
5 ounces shredded Swiss cheese

In a large Dutch oven pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic. Cool for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Add potatoes, broth, and corn. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Add cream, thyme, salt, and pepper. Simmer uncovered for an additional 20 minutes. Add cheese, stirring until melted.

I served our soup with a loaf of freshly baked bread. The magazine has it served in bread bowls, which would be really nice, but I did not feel like buying any and the day just got too hectic to bake them. The soup did smell really nice while cooking though, and it was really tasty. The recipe states that it can be frozen for up to 1 month. We had about half of our soup left after we finished eating, and so I did freeze it. It should be a nice meal to have on a day when things just get too crazy to cook a good dinner.