Eat This: Cheddar Chicken Chowder

As the official chef of PlanetHunt, I'd like to welcome you all to a new... ... er, well, recurring Blogumn (blog column?) called "Eat This". Basically, if a blog post has "Eat This" in it, you know it's going to be a great recipe I've decided I must share with the masses. You should also know that these are the best of the best - things I've made that I, and oftentimes others, have raved about. These recipes have been rigorously tested in the PlanetHunt kitchen, and rigorously tasted at the PlanetHunt table.

With that bit of introduction out of the way, here we go.

Winter, particularly after Christmas, is that special time of year when I find myself playing a lot of videogames, watching a lot of movies, and becoming culinarily (is that a word?) adventurous. These three things all directly have to do with not wanting to set foot outside until it's anywhere from 50 to 100 degrees warmer out there. (Today's actually not too bad. 40 degrees warmer would suffice.)

In honor of the winter of 2004-2005, I'm devoting this inaugural edition of Eat This to an awesome in-from-the-cold recipe for Cheddar Chicken Chowder.

Fellow Minnesotans, you'll notice there's nothing scary in this recipe - no strange ingredients, no odd "ethnic" foods. In fact, if you look at the recipe, you'll see a lot of Minnesota-safe ingredients you might even already have on hand - chicken, potatoes, corn, bacon, and cheese. Put those ingredients all together in a thick and chunky soup, and you've got good eating, something sure to chase away the frostbrite from all your nearly-frozen extremities. And, like most soups, it tastes even better the next day.

Low-carbers take note: You're looking at over 30 g/serving here, so if you're in the beginning phase of the diet, you'll have to take a pass on this one for now.

Cheddar Chicken Chowder


2-3 bacon slices
Cooking spray
1 pound skinned, boned chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic)
4 1/2 cups fat-free chicken broth
1 3/4 cups diced peeled red potatoes
2 1/4 cups frozen whole-kernel corn
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% low-fat milk
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan. Crumble; set aside. Add chicken, onion, bell pepper, and garlic to bacon fat in pan; sauté 5 minutes. Add broth and potatoes; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add corn; stir well.

Place flour in a bowl. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended; add to soup. Cook over medium heat 15 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Stir in cheese, salt, and pepper. Top with crumbled bacon.

Yield: 7 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

CALORIES 306 (22% from fat); FAT 7.5g (satfat 4g, monofat 2.2g, polyfat 0.6g); PROTEIN 25g; CARBOHYDRATE 33.7g; FIBER 2.9g; CHOLESTEROL 58mg; IRON 1.6mg; SODIUM 376mg; CALCIUM 193mg;