Creamy Zucchini-Corn Soup Recipe

I bought a huge zucchini for 50 cents and with a bag of frozen corn and half an onion made this quick fat-free recipe--no butter, oil, or cream yet tasting creamy and great. From The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook (2000).

Creamy Corn-and-Zucchini Soup (10 servings; recipe can be halved)

6 cups chicken broth
2 cups diced zucchini (about 2 large)
1/2 cup chopped onion
6 cups corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
3/4 teaspoon salt (if the chicken broth isn't salted already)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
hot pepper sauce (red) (optional)

1. Bring broth to simmer in a large saucepan. Add zucchini and onion; cover and simer 2 minutes. Stir in corn, salt, and pepper, cover, and simmer 2 minutes. Cool slightly.
2. Put three cups at a time of the liquid in a blender and puree.
3. Reheat. Serve with optional hot sauce.

Loving a Recipe: Carrot Soup with Cilantro

About 18 years ago when I became a cook with cookbooks I started noting the date and any variations on the recipes I tried. If I made it again I noted it. There are notes saying "Bob says this is the king of breads" (that's a bread recipe), or "Tasty but not pretty enough for company -- grayish" (that's cream of cauliflower soup) or "This tastes great!! Why did I doubt?" (fusilli with caper sauce), or "9/14/07 I never poached an egg in soup before, but it's GOOD!" (herb bouillon) or "blender makes gummy potatoes." The notes have made my cookbook library (about 30 books) a priceless record of my daily life and love of cooking. Here's a favorite recipe for that healthy pound of carrots I always buy only to realize that nobody is going to eat 'em raw. The secrets to the soup include the apple, the sweet potato, the rice that makes the soup creamy without cream, and the "Fresh lemon juice to taste" (about 1 Tablespoon). I whip the chopped cilantro into drained yogurt to make cilantro cream to float on top of the finished carrot soup. Recipe comes from The Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook (the 1995 edition). I never have fennel seeds on hand so it's not in my recipe.


Carrot Soup with Cilantro (about 5 servings)


1 Tablespoon unsalted butter or corn oil
1 apple, peeled, cored and cubed
1 to 1-1/2 pounds of carrots, chopped
1/2 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons uncooked white rice
1/4 teaspoon turmeric or curry powder
5-1/2 cups vegetable stock or water
1 bay leaf (don't omit!)
salt and freshly ground black or white pepper to taste
fresh lemon juice to taste (about 1 Tablespoon)
2 Tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1/2 cup plain yogurt, drained
Heat the butter or corn oil and saute the carrots and sweet potatoes for about 5 minutes over medium heat, and add the apple and saute for another 5 minutes. Add the white rice, turmeric or curry powder, stock or water, and bay leaf. Cook for 20 minutes until vegetables and rice are soft. Remove bay leaf and puree the soup until smooth. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Pour into serving bowls. Mix the minced fresh cilantro with the yogurt and top each serving with a spoonful.

Recipe: White Bean and Gorgonzola Soup

The can-of-beans theme continues and this cheese soup is a knockout. Because the cheese melts you don't have guests wondering why the cheese is blue. Evaporated milk is a great lower-fat substitute for cream.

White Bean and Gorgonzola Soup

1/2 to 1 chopped onion
1 can of white beans, rinsed
2 cups chicken broth or equivalent
small (6 or 7 ounce) can of evaporated milk
2 or 3 ounces of Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

In your soup pot cook the chopped onion until tender in 1/4 cup of the chicken broth, Then add the rinsed white beans and remaining chicken broth and cook until it cooks down a bit and the beans get softer. Remove from heat and puree the mixture and then return it to the pot, add the can of evaporated milk, and stir. When it's all simmering, add the cheese and stir until it's melted. Ready. 2 huge servings or 3 normal servings, or 4 or 5 soup cups.

Got the original recipe in 1999 from rec.food.recipes. Remember them? Using only one ounce of cheese makes this soup low-fat. I say, eat something else that's low-fat; this is too good. Some people add carrots at the beginning, sauteed with the onion, to tone up the color.