Quick & Easy Vegan Corn Chowder

A couple of years ago, when I first started teaching vegan cooking classes, I developed a recipe for vegan corn chowder based on one by Tal Ronnen in The Conscious Cook. It’s a great recipe, but a bit on the heavy side, filled with thick cashew cream, Daiya cheese, potatoes, etc.

This recipe is very similar, but much lighter, unprocessed, and just as delicious.

You will need:

• 1 1/c cups raw cashews
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 bag frozen corn (or the equivalent of fresh corn)
• 2 Tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 2 Tablespoons diced onion
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 dried chipotle pepper, soaked in water
• dash garlic powder
• dash cayenne

Begin by making a medium-thick cashew cream by blending the cashews and water. Then add about 1 1/2 cups of the corn to the blender and blend that into the cashew cream.

In a medium-sized pot, heat the oil and water, then saute the onion and celery until soft. Add salt & pepper to taste, then add the cashew cream, garlic powder and cayenne, and stir together. Dice the chipotle pepper and add it, along with the soaking water, and the remaining corn, to the pot. Heat until warmed through.

Once heated, check the flavors once again, as the water from the frozen corn might dilute the seasonings, and add more salt, pepper or cayenne if need.

Enjoy!

OK, soups don’t translate all that well in photos 🙂