Spicy sweetcorn chowder with an avocado and sweetcorn salsa (vegan)

This soup has it all: colour, flavour, texture and fragrance. Aside from the gorgeous golden colour, it’s deliciously smooth and creamy with a bite of chilli that cuts through the sweetness. Add to that the buttery coolness of avocado and the scent of lime and it’s soup heaven. Don’t be put off by the seemingly long list of ingredients – it’s quick and straight forward to put together once you’ve done some basic prep and it’s definitely worth the effort. Sweetcorn boasts some strong nutritional benefits as a source of B vitamin complex, Vitamin A, fibre, antioxidants and minerals such as magnesium, zinc, copper and iron, and it’s only one of several nutrient rich ingredients in this dish.

This one’s good served with a side of lightly salted tortilla chips instead of the usual bread.

Ingredients:

Serves 4 large portions or 6 starter portions

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 large potato (approx 300g) peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces

1 tsp seasalt

1 tsp paprika

1 level tsp chilli flakes

½  teaspoon ground cumin

1 ½ pints vegetable stock

400g frozen sweetcorn kernels

100 ml cashew nut cream ( see below for cashew nut cream recipe)

To make:

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil for 5 minutes

2. Add the potato, salt, paprika, chilli flakes and cumin and sauté for a further 2 minutes, stirring well

3. Add the stock and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes

4. Add the sweet corn and return to a simmer for a further 5 minutes

5. Add the nut cream, stirring well, and simmer for a further 5 minutes. The nut cream will thicken the soup- if the consistency is too thick, add a little extra hot water

6. Blitz the soup in a food blender until it is completely smooth and velvety

7. Serve topped with a tablespoon of the sweet corn salsa (recipe below)

Sweetcorn salsa

Ingredients:

Yields around 1 ½ cups salsa

1 cup sweetcorn kernels

½ large avocado finely chopped

1 medium tomato finely chopped

1 small red chilli de-seeded and finely chopped OR 1 tsp chilli flakes

Large handful coriander finely chopped – no stalks

1 shallot very finely chopped

Juice of 2 limes

1 tsp seasalt

To make:

Mix everything together in a large bowl, stirring well to combine all the flavours. Keep covered in the fridge- best eaten within 24 hours.

Cashew nut cream (yields 2 cups)

Soak 1 cup of cashew nuts overnight in 2 cups of cold water. Drain and rinse the soaked cashew nuts in clean water before use. Add the rinsed cashew nuts to a food blender with 1 cup of fresh, cold water and blend for a couple of minutes until silky smooth – you may need to scrape the sides of the blender down a couple of times along the way. This stays fresh, covered in the fridge, for up to 3 days.