Google+ Allergy-Free Vintage Cookery: Vegan Corn Chowder with Butternut Squash

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Monday, October 3, 2011

Vegan Corn Chowder with Butternut Squash


Chowder is a beautiful thing, especially in the fall -- so warm and filling -- but typically it is made with butter and cream (both unwanted guests in our house).

I needed a quick, grown-up dinner last weekend while we were hosting a birthday sleepover full of thirteen-year-old boys.  All my energy had already been spent on feeding these bottomless pits guests, as well as a good deal of the contents of my pantry.

As the boys had already eaten, I had a little more flexibility with my ingredients -- their onion, corn and coconut allergies weren't part of the equation on this night, as VintageDad and I don't suffer from these particular issues.  With great excitement, I realized that I could actually cook something with corn for the two of us, and chowder popped into my head.

This recipe was a completely unplanned, hardly-measured experiment, and amazingly, it turned out really well!  I sauteed a bit of onion in veggie broth to start, then added a can of mashed butternut squash that I found in the pantry for that thick chowder texture.  All that was left to add was a package of frozen corn, some coconut oil to replace the butterfat, and some Old Bay seasoning to give it some zing.  It worked!! (I'm always surprised when that happens.)

VintageDad and I were thrilled to sit quietly just the two of us, while the beeps and pings of the latest popular video game drifted up from the basement where all the boys were quarantined hanging out.  The chowder came together in just minutes, and we enjoyed it with a little salad and the last of the Crash Hot Potatoes that we managed to save from the ravenous animals boys downstairs.  Against all odds, we had a lovely autumn dinner for two!  I was so happy with this recipe that I submitted it to the "No Croutons Required" soup contest for October.  It's THAT good!

Vegan Corn Chowder with Butternut Squash

1 small onion
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 can mashed butternut squash
1 package frozen corn
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
2 Tbsp coconut oil

Dice the onion and soften in a few tablespoons of broth, about 3 minutes.  Add the rest of the broth, and the rest of the ingredients, and heat through, about 10 minutes.  Enjoy (with or without teenage boys in your cellar!)

Shared with No Croutons Required at Tinned Tomatoes, and Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist and Just Another Meatless Monday at Hey What's For Dinner Mom? and Real Food 101 at Ruth's Real Food and Homestead Barn Hop at the Prairie Homestead and On The Menu Monday at The Stone Gable and Recipe Sharing Monday at Jam Hands and Makin' You Crave Monday at Mrs. Happy Homemaker and Mangia Mondays at Delightfully Dowling and Melt In Your Mouth Monday at Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms and Homemaker Monday at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven and Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative and Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime and Weekend Wrap Up at Tatertots and Jello and Meatless Monday at Midnight Maniac and Make Yourself Monday at For Love of Cupcakes and Fat Tuesday at Real Food Forager and Tasty Tuesday at Naptime Creations and Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade and the Hearth and Soul Hop at Premeditated Leftovers and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free and Tuesday Confessional at Confessions of a Stay At Home Mom and Tuesday Time Out at Reasons to Skip the Housework and Tuesday Talent Show at Chef in Training and Real Food Wednesday at Kelly The Kitchen Kop and Gluten Free Wednesday at the Gluten Free Homemaker and These Chicks Cooked at This Chick Cooks and Whisking Wednesday at A Pinch of This That and The Other and Show Off Your Stuff at Fireflies and Jellybeans and Pennywise Platter at the Nourishing Gourmet and Creative Juice at Momnivore's Dilemma and Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS and Wellness Weekend at Diet Dessert and Dogs and Freaky Friday at Real Food Freaks and Fresh Bites Friday at Real Food Whole Health and Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home and the Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom and Sunday Night Soup Night at Easy Natural Food.

14 comments:

  1. I am always looking for new soup recipes for fall and winter! Corn and butternut squash sound perfect for fall.

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  2. This sounds so simple and yummy!

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  3. Mmmm... sounds delicious and I love the bowl you have it in too!

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  4. Sounds delicious...and if you read one of my posts from the other day, you will find out our family is now hooked on chowders.

    This is definitely a must try recipe.

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  5. Yum! Sounds great for this cooler weather. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Thanks for linking your great post to FAT TUESDAY. Hope to see you next week! Be sure to visit RealFoodForager.com on Sunday for
    Sunday Snippets – your post from Fat Tuesday may be featured there!

    http://realfoodforager.com/2011/10/fat-tuesday-october-4-2011/

    If you have grain-free recipes please visit Wednesday night for a grain-free linky carnival in support of my 28 day grain-free challenge starting Wednesday!

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  7. Found you via This Chick Cooks and can't wait to give this recipe a try! I am always excited to find new soup recipes, this being vegan makes it a bonus!
    Can't wait to check out more of your recipes!

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  8. This chowder looks delicious. Adding butternut squash give a sweet hint. Thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop.

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  9. Your chowder sounds wonderful - I love the butternut squash / corn combination. Thank you for sharing it with the Hearth and Soul hop.

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  10. With three boys ages 20, 17, and 15, I completely understand the feeling of feeding bottomless pits. :) This soup sound terrific. Thanks for participating in Gluten-Free Wednesdays!

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  11. Hi, this sounds yummy - love anything with corn in it! I'm going to be hosting a blog carnival specifically for soups, stocks and chowders, starting this Sunday. I would love it if you would come over and post this recipe. Here's a link with more info.

    http://easynaturalfood.com/2011/10/17/introducing-sunday-night-soup-night/

    I hope to see you there!
    Debbie

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  12. Your soup sounds really gorgeous Lisa. Thanks for submitting it to No Croutons Required :)

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  13. I love the sound of this - why have I never thought to put sweetcorn in a squash soup? (Visiting from NCR - nice to meet you)

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  14. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe with Sunday Night Soup Night. I'll be hosting weekly through fall and winter, so I'd love to see you again with your next soup/stock/chowder recipe!

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