Summer Squash and Corn Soup (Meatless Monday)

You know how they have an ugly dog contest every year? Well, if they started an ugly soup contest this one would take top honors.  Of course one of the rules would be that the ugly soup would have to taste good too, which would make it unique (ugly, yet delicious). Similar to the ugly dog, the winner is always well behaved and trained, although unfortunate looking.

This year's winner was a beagle-boxer-basset mix.
Ugly. Yet so cute.
Source

This soup turned out "souper" ugly, because it was green.  It almost looked like fresh authentic salsa, right?  The original recipe called for summer squash, but I thought it would be fun to use summer squash and zucchini.  I wasn't thinking about how the soup would then be green. Oops.  Thankfully, even my picky mother didn't seem to mind the ugliness of the soup, especially after she took her first bite.

The textures were perfect, and truly enhanced the flavor of this soup.  The soft cheese, the al dente corn, and the watery broth with chunks of zucchini..... Oh my, it was just outstanding!  I've seriously been meaning to make this recipe for a couple years now, and am so glad I finally got around to it.  Imagine how it will taste with our homegrown zucchini (yes, I will use zucchini again when I make this soup, and make it ugly green soup, I don't discriminate.....).

Summer Squash (and Zucchini) and Corn Soup
Servings: 2 as a small meal, 4 as a starter or appetizer

Source: EatingWell

Ingredients

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, chopped **
2 medium summer squash, diced (or use 1 zucchini and 1 summer squash)
3 tsp. chopped fresh herbs, such as thyme or oregano, divided
1 14-ounce can low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth **
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup fresh corn kernels (from 1 large ear of corn) or frozen **
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

1.  Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring 1 minute.  Add squash and 1 tsp. herbs and cook, stirring occasionally until the squash starts to soften, 3 to 5 minutes.

2.  Add broth and salt; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the squash is soft and mostly translucent, about 5 minutes more.  Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth (use caution, as this will be hot and you don't want the liquid to splash!).  Return the soup to the pan and stir in the corn.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the corn is tender, 3 to 5 minutes more.  Remove from the heat; stir in lemon juice.  Serve garnished with the remaining 2 tsp herbs and feta.

**NOTE: If you are following a low FODMAPs diet omit the shallot and replace part of the flavor with a tuscan olive oil (which is infused with Tuscan spices).  Also look for a broth that is not flavored with garlic or onion (yes, these do exist!).  Lastly, most summer corn is sweet corn, and sweet corn contains FODMAPs.  The good news is that most people can tolerate ~1/3 cup (or half of a medium ear of corn) in one sitting.  The small amount in this recipe, therefore, should be tolerated fine.

Estimated nutrition facts for 1/4th of recipe (If splitting this into 4 servings)

Estimated nutrition facts for 1/2 of recipe (If splitting this into 2 servings)
Source: CalorieCount.com

Nutrition Highlights:  This soup isn't too heavy on calories (especially when divided into four, obviously), which is nice because it was pretty hearty! If you make it into 2 servings it's a good source of fiber, calcium, and iron, and it's an excellent source of vitamin C.

Serve this soup with some grilled chicken (like we did on this particular night) or a big ol' chunk of whole wheat bread.  And be sure to give it a ribbon for the "ugliest, yet most delicious soup of the summer!".  

QUESTION:  Do you like soup in the summer?  Cold, hot, or either way?

I hope you had a lovely Fourth of July weekend.  It was really rainy and dreary here, all weekend.  I think the first time I saw the sun was yesterday at 5pm.  Literally.  That being said, it was still a great weekend and an amazing Fourth. The fireworks weren't cancelled, so that's a plus (not that I'm a huge fireworks fan, but it would have been odd having a Fourth of July without fireworks!).  Enjoy your Monday everyone.

Thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd