Mexican Street Corn Soup

I haven’t posted for a while. A combination of doing volunteering work, my Dad passing away and securing a new job has zapped my energy and enthusiasm. But as if I didn’t know already, the scales confirmed that I need to get back with it and maybe in doing so life will become more enjoyable.

I rarely get excited about a soup recipe – home-made versions are better for you and lower in calories compared to saltier tinned equivalents, but can still lack taste. However, Mexican Street Corn Soup from Pinch of Nom did capture my imagination and I was thrilled with the end result. The chopped green chilli and chilli powder give it plenty of ooomph and there’s a nice balance of flavours along with the red pepper, sweetcorn, potato and feta. This is one soup dish that I’ll return to again and again, plus it’s only approx 70p per serving to make and 199 calories (not 99 as printed by the Sun newspaper when plugging PON’s latest book earlier this year).

If you like this, I’d recommend Spicy Sweetcorn Soup (with bacon or tofu) which equally packs some welly and can be adapted for vegetarians. Alternatively, click here to check out some more super soup recipes!

Recipe: Mexican Street Corn Soup

Calories: 199 per serving

Serves: 4

Book: Two Chubby Cubs – The Cookbook

Prep time: Approx 20 mins

Cooking time: Approx 25 mins

Ingredients:

• Low-calorie cooking spray
• 1 onion (peeled and diced)
• 1 medium red pepper (deseeded and diced)
• 1 green chilli (deseeded and chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves (peeled and crushed)
• 1 medium potato (peeled and diced)
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 x 200g tins sweetcorn (drained)
• 500ml vegetable stock (1 vegetable stock cube dissolved in 500ml boiling water)
• Juice of 1 lime
• Sea salt
• Ground black pepper
• 65g reduced-fat feta cheese
• 10g fresh coriander (chopped)

To accompany:

• 4 x 60g wholemeal bread rolls (152 cals per roll)

• Cost per portion: Approx £0.71

Method:

Spray a large saucepan with low-calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat. Fry the onion, red pepper, green chilli and garlic for 5 minutes until soft. Add the potato, chilli powder, 350g of sweetcorn, stock and lime juice.

Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until the potato is soft.

Add 50g of the reduced-fat feta, then use a stick blender or food processor to blitz the soup until smooth.

If you prefer a thinner soup, add a little water to loosen the texture. Add the remainder of the sweetcorn and season to taste with the salt and pepper.

Serve with the remaining feta cheese and a sprinkling of coriander on top. You can cool and freeze the soup for another day, leaving off the garnish till you’re ready to defrost and reheat.