Recipe Thursdays

I now dub thee recipe Thursdays... Although once I have a more structured schedule it might change days, but for now though I will post a new, healthy (or semi- healthy) recipe post :)
This week's is vegetarian friendly:

Southwest Corn Soup

2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped & diced
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded & minced
2 medium tomatoes, seeded & diced
1 medium potatoes, diced
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, & diced
1 tsp of coarse salt
1/2 tsp of fresh ground pepper
32oz. of vegetable stock
1 can of fiesta corn (it contains red/green peppers)
1/2 can of corn
1 cup of fat free milk

1. Melt the butter in a large stockpot over moderate heat. Saute onions until soft, about 10 minutes.

2. Add garlic, coriander, cumin, and jalapeno pepper and saute another 2 minutes to release aromas.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until they are juicy. Add the stock, bay leaf, potatoes, bell pepper, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

4. Add the corn and heat through for another 2-5 minutes and then remove bay leaf.

5. In a blender, puree half to 3/4 of the soup and add the milk. Stir the puree back into the soup pot. Adjust seasoning if needed. Heat slowly until soup is warmed through and serve. Optional: top with shredded cheese. (This is where I went wrong, currently I am not cooking in my kitchen so I couldn't find a blender and ate my portion not blended..once I found a blender it tasted and whole lot better.)

I served my portion (pre-blender) with a side salad of romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, goat cheese, black beans, and tomato vinaigrette dressing. Yum.

Oh! And I finally got my overdue run in this morning. 2 miles....not bad for taking a week off running. And followed it by a quick 15 minute total body workout inside.

Laters!