And so it begins...

...well actually, it has begun. I teach at a community college in Iowa, and we've had terrible weather this winter. I had already begun dieting this fall, but over Christmas break, I decided to enrich my diet with new recipes. I must have tried 6 or 7 recipes just during break. Since spring semester has begun, I've realized that I won't be able to keep up trying new recipes at that pace, and yet I don't want to get stuck with the same dietary food day in and day out. Therefore, I decided to try at least one new recipe a week. My dear friend Mari suggested I blog my experience. We had seen the movie Julie and Julia together and she suggested I could do something like that. I liked the idea, so here I am.

Here is a recipe for Southwestern Corn Chowder. I got it from Everyday Food. I'm afraid I didn't record the issue number, but it was on page 58. This hearty chowder is relatively creamy and it allows me to enjoy starchier vegetables that generally don't fit into a diet. This cornfed Iowa girl needs corn occasionally. It's a great one to take to work on a cold winter day.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 scallion, white and green parts separated, thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 baking potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels
1 can chicken broth
1 cup milk

Preparation
1. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add whit part of scallion, carrot, chili powder, and oregano; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until scallion is soft, about 2 minutes. Add potato, corn, broth, and milk.

2. Bring to a boil over medium-high, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until potato is easily pierced, 10-20 minutes. Stir in green part of scallion, and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 1 day.

Serves 2. 381 calories and 11.5 grams of fat per serving.