Last night I made my first chowder. I was numb-scully calling it fish soup not thinking that it was “duh” – chowder.  Anyway it was delicious and worth sharing with you all.  If you’ve never made chowder, I encourage giving it a try.  It was nice and light and I felt sort of humbled eating it.  Not sure why, maybe it was the mushrooms…in the soup.  They gave it a real earthy feel.

Tilapia and Corn Chowder

Ingredients

• 2 slices of bacon (optional of course)
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 leek, white part only, halved lengthwise, rinsed and thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 Yukon Gold potato, diced
• 2 cups fresh corn kernels, (about 4 ears)
• 2 cups white mushrooms (sliced)
• 1 1/2 pounds tilapia fillets, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Directions

• Chop bacon and cook in a large pot over medium heat until crispy, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
• Add oil to the pan. Add celery, leek, salt and pepper and cook until the vegetables just begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add broth, potatoes, mushrooms, and corn. Bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until the potatoes are just tender and the corn is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Stir in tilapia and thyme; return to a gentle simmer. Cook until the tilapia is cooked through, about 4 minutes more. Remove from the heat.
• Stir in half-and-half, lemon juice and the reserved bacon. Garnish with chives, if using.

Notes from the cook: I didn’t have chives but did have some scallions so I used those as the garnish.  Tasted good.  Also, if you’re not using bacon, you’ll want to add a little more oil to saute the veggies.  Oh yeah, and I modified this recipe from one found on EatingWell.

Enjoy!

And happy long weekend! It’s a beautiful day out in Southern California and we’re going out to play!