Self-Care and Vegan Corn Chowder
Believe it or not, they walk hand in hand. :-)
Self-Care
Between Christmas and the turning of the new year, I reinvested in my self-care. I'd been pretty lax from our annual family Christmas party through Christmas, and I was feeling the effects of that on every level.Thanks to Holistic Nutrition, I received a major jump-start, and the motivation to get my rear back in high-health gear: I was required, for a final assignment, to design a three-day cleanse.I'd never done one before, and in the process of researching it, I discovered that many were way too radical for me, especially based on what I'd been learning. So, since I had to design one, I decided I'd be my own guinea pig.Restore, as I titled it, was born.
I weighed myself first thing on the morning of day one, and didn't return to the scale until the morning of day four, after completing the cleanse.In between, I enjoyed clearer skin and eyes, greatly improved energy, better sleep, and lots of nutritious food and beverages. As an added bonus, I released five pounds.I'm committed to revisiting Restore every season, to give my digestive and detoxification systems a break, and to remind me how easy it is to feel good by eating well and tending to my self-care.Since then, I'm fully back into the swing of being a happy herbivore, or oil-free whole-food vegan.It does me and my body good, as evidenced by the continued enjoyment of all the benefits mentioned above, including the release of an additional three more pounds when I stepped on the scale for my usual Monday morning weigh-in.Part of that swing includes my love of cooking, and building recipes. Which is what brings me to...
Vegan Corn Chowder
The only problem with this recipe is, I didn't take a picture of it. Why? I was too busy eating it.It's so good, and so easy to put together. It could easily be upsized to serve a crowd, but as-is, it's a hearty and wholesome meal for one.
Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Vegan
Author:
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 or 2
This was inspired by Guy's Grocery Game on Food Network. It's delicious; hearty and warming. It's also super healthy. This would be an entire meal for one person, as is, or a meal for two if paired with a big salad and/or bread or crackers.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and cubed
- 1 medium potato, cubed
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 small hot pepper, seeds removed, diced (optional, but recommended)
- 1/2 green pepper, diced (only if you don\'t go with the hot pepper)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (or more; more is better)
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- dash or two of cayenne, if you like a bit of heat
- 1 cup butternut squash, cubed (from packaged frozen)
- 1 cup corn kernels (from packaged frozen)
Instructions
- Measure water into a pot and set it on the stove. Turn burner to high.
- Wash the carrot, peel it, cube it, and add it to water.
- Wash the potato, cube it (skin on, preferably), and add it to water.
- Peel and dice onion, and add it to water.
- Cut hot or green pepper open, remove top, ribs, and seeds, dice it, and add it to water.
- Mince garlic and add it to water.
- Measure turmeric, cumin, black pepper, sea salt, and cayenne and add them to water.
- Allow to cook, lid on, until carrot, potato and pepper are tender, and onion is translucent. Reduce heat to medium-low.
- Add frozen squash and corn, replace lid, and allow to simmer until squash is heated through, or until it\'s almost time to eat.
- Scoop 1/2 of the chowder fixings into a blender, and blend until smooth.
- Add blended mixture back into pot, and bring it back to temperature.
- Eat. :-)
Have you ever completed a cleanse? Are you a fan of corn chowder?