Roasted Corn Chowder with Chicken and Cilantro

My mom sent me this recipe and I tried it on some friends a couple weekends ago. They loved it! I accompanied this hearty, spicy soup/stew with some homemade baking powder buiscuts. The recipe can be found here. Its a really delicious soup that's fairly low in calories. Enjoy! I know I did!

Roasted Corn Chowder with Chicken and Cilantro

By The Gluten Free Goddess
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon curry or chili powder or paste, mild or hot, to taste
4-5 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
1 medium sweet onion, diced
3 ears of corn, roasted, kernels removed (I used about 1/2 a bag of frozen corn).
1 large sweet potato, peeled, diced
1 14-oz can Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
1 cup seeded, chopped fresh heirloom tomatoes- I used yellow and pink (use what's available and in season in your supermarket)4 oz. chopped roasted green chilies
1 quart light vegetable broth
1 14-oz can coconut milk or plain hemp milk
2 rounded cups cooked chicken pieces
Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
A quick drizzle of organic raw agave, to taste (I left this out)
To serve:
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
Fresh lime juice from 2 limes

Instructions

If corn is in season use fresh ears of corn- if not- roast thawed frozen kernels on a baking sheet.
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat and stir in the cumin and curry or chili powder; cook for one minute to infuse the oil with spice. Add the chopped garlic and onion. Stir and cook for five minutes. Add the roasted corn, sweet potato, canned fire roasted tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, green chilies; stir for a minute. Add in the broth. Cover and bring to a high simmer. Lower the heat and simmer gently, until the sweet potatoes are tender, about twenty minutes or so. Add the coconut milk and cooked chicken pieces. Stir and season with sea salt and ground pepper; and add a drizzle of organic raw agave to taste. Heat through gently- please don't boil it. Just before serving, add the chopped cilantro and fresh lime juice. Stir. Taste test. Adjust seasoning. Note: The lime juice brightens the taste and accents the spice. Agave cools the hotness.
Garnish with a lime wedge and pass out the spoons.
This chowder works well cooked slowly in a Crock Pot; add the coconut milk and cooked chicken 30 minutes before serving and heat through.
Add the lime juice and cilantro just before serving.
Total Servings: 8

Nutritional Information Per Serving

Calories: 276.2
Carbohydrates: 10.4 g
Cholesterol: 37.5 mg
Fat: 21.0 g
Saturated Fat: 13.2 g
Fiber: 2.9 g
Sodium: 64.5 mg
Protein: 14.3 g

Coconut Safari

Whilst in a local bar one evening, my friend and I concocted a girly, fruity, drink with help from the bartender. Believe me, a heavy feat in Wyoming. This delicious tropical drink we christened "Coconut Safari Delight" the main ingredients being coconut and pineapple of course. The recipe follows:

Coconut Safari Delight
1 part each, vodka and coconut rum, poured over ice
top with pineapple juice

Those little suckers were delicious!

On a second occasion (with the same friend, I might add) we found ourselves short a couple ingredients for the same mixture, but I came up with the cousin of the Coconut Safari Delight:

The Coconut Safari EXTREME!
1 part each, Bacardi Limon and coconut rum
2 parts orange juice
pour over ice, filling half the glass
top with sprite or club soda

Yum! I like this one even better than the Delight, because of the lack of vodka (we don't really get along).
The Extreme, is because it's extremely delicious! And I like drinks with weird names.
Be forewarned, these drinks are sweet and personally, I can't taste the alcohol before I feel it.
Remember to enjoy responsibly. You may feel like you are on a tropical island, but you can still get a DUI in a boat.  :)

Recipe: Quick Pizza Sandwich

Ingredients:
1 flatbread or tortilla
sliced or chopped tomatoes
basil
tomato sauce (optional)
goat cheese
turkey lunchmeat, torn or chopped into bite-sized pieces

Spread tomato sauce and basil onto the flatbread. Sprinkle goat cheese crumbs, turkey, and tomatoes as desired on top of the sauce. Fold the flatbread in half like a sandwich and bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 F. Enjoy your tasty calzone-like treat. Vary your toppings as you like.
Yum!

Delicious Immune Booster Tea

In the spirit of flu season, here's a recipe about boosting your immunity in a flavorful way. Many immune boosters come in the form of pills and capsules. But if you, like myself, are not quite a gung-ho pill swallower, try this tasty tea instead! I combine one tea bag of Echinacea Tea and one bag Celestial Seasoning True Blueberry Herbal Tea to about 16oz. of water (a large coffee mug) and add a spoonful of honey. The result is that you get the fighting skills of the immune booster Echinacea along with the wonderful berry flavor of the Blueberry Tea. If you like a little caffiene in your tea try adding a bag of green tea to the mix.