Friday, December 16, 2011

Corn Chowder, Sun-dried Tomato & Cashews Dip



After having a few hot days, the weather has cooled down and my daughter asks me to make her some soup.  It is only about 20 celsius with a bit of rain and wind but she puts on her tracksuit and keep complaining how COLD it is!  After all these Christmas party food, we need something light like this to help cleansing our system. 

When I went to one of the Christmas party, one of the mum brought in some homemade dip. She had been very generous telling me what she put in.  So I went home and tried to be a copy cat.  She said the dip could also be a salad dressing by adding some lemon juice to it.

The post man knocks on our door and I receive two Christmas parcels the other day, not to mention the greeting cards I have received.  I have to get myself writing some Christmas cards, getting the shopping done, etc. as Christmas is not far away.  I have got a whole turkey and a leg of ham for our Christmas lunch.  I haven't cooked anything that BIG before, and they both need the oven.  I may have to get up early to get these done so they'll be ready on time.  Let's hope there is no kitchen disaster on Christmas Day as there is no take-away open!

Corn Chowder
(serve 4)

1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
3 small new potatoes, peeled and chopped
kernels from 2 ears of sweet corn
peas (optional)
4 cups water
1 cup low-fat milk
salt and pepper

Method:

  1. Pan fried onion with a little of oil in the saucepan.  Add the potatoes and carrot and continue to fry for a minute.  Add the water, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
  2. Add the kernels and milk to the saucepan and continue to simmer until potatoes are cooked.  Transfer the soup to the food processor or blender and process until smooth. 
  3. Return the soup to the saucepan, add some peas, season with salt and pepper.  If it's not thick and smooth enough, you can thicken it with a teaspoon of cornflour mixed with a tablespoon of water.

Sun-dried Tomato & Cashews Dip


1/2 cup salted cashews
1/2 capsicum, roughly chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
lemon juice
salt to taste
olive oil

Blend the cashews with capsicum, tomatoes and olive oil (I use the oil from the bottle of the tomatoes) until smooth, add in some lemon juice and salt.  Serve with crackers.



Thanks for visiting and supporting my blog. 

Wishing you a 


Merry Christmas and Have a Happy New Year!




10 comments:

  1. Veronica, I like the sound of your corn chowder, but its your sundried tomato dip that is intriguing me, its certainly the time to make dips.

    Wishing you a happy Christmas and a wonderful NY.

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  2. Your sundried tomato and cashews dip sounds super interesting! I might make that for our X'mas eve dinner as part of our appetizers. Thanks for the idea! Merry Christmas to you and yours and a Blessed and yummy year ahead!

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  3. mmm..that corn chowder looks extremely soothing and delicious.

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  4. Am your happy follower now..:)
    do stop by mine sometime..
    Tasty Appetite

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  5. Hi Veronica,your soup is very comforting,as well as tasty..Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! XOXO

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  6. love the cashew dip- the nuttiness of the cashews yet slightly sweet go perfectly with the tomatoes

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  7. They all look so delicious! The reindeer towel is very cute!

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family too. Best wishes, Zoe.

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  8. that soup would be perfect right now (kinda chilly today!) and that dip looks awesome. my 2 favorite things, sundried tomatoes & cashews in one dish, perfect! Love your blog. I'm following you now :)

    andrea
    http://gofeastyourself.blogspot.com

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