Corn salad

In lieu of corn on the cob, I decided to make a corn salad for our 4th of July BBQ. It's very simple and quick to make. You can also make it ahead of time to save yourself a bit of stress when you're having over 30 people over :)

Ingredients:
- 2 or 3 cans of sweet corn, drained
- 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 red onion finely diced
- 1 red bell pepper finely diced
- Basil leaves
- Olive oil
- Vinegar
- Salt & Pepper

Directions:
- Mix all the ingredients together and serve or cover and keep it in the fridge until your guests arrive.

I told ya it was easy!

Corn chowder

Who says chowders have to be unhealthy? This had minimal butter, no cream, lotsa veggies, and soy milk! And it tasted great (in my opinion at least). My brother always laughs at me because I'll drink diet coke and eat french fries smothered in cheese, guacamole, and carne asada (the best thing ever by the way if you've never tried it - a San Diego hole in the wall Mexican specialty). But my argument is that if a comparable lower calorie version of carne asada french fries existed, I'd eat it. Unfortunately, there isn't, but there is one for soda, so I might as well take advantage of that, right?

I'm always about finding comparable healthy alternatives. I've baked eggrolls before, made creamless creamed spinach, baked potato wedges/chips, etc. and now I'm on to my healthy version of corn chowder, I hope you like it!


Ingredients:
- 2 tbs butter
- flour
- 1 can of corn
- 1 onion finely diced
- 2 ribs of celery chopped
- 1 potato diced
- 1 chicken breast
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 cup chicken stock or water
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp parsley
- salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Melt the butter in a heavy pot and add flour a little a time to make a rue. Keep adding the flour until it can't hold anymore.

In a separate pan (or take the rue out and use the same pan), sweat the onions until softened. Add a pinch of salt to help with the process.

Add it to the pot (or add the rue back in). Add the can of corn, with the liquid, soy milk and chicken stock/water. Stir to break up the rue and thicken the soup.

Toss in the celery, potato and the chicken breast to poach. Bring everything to a boil then turn down to a simmer.

When the chicken is cooked, take it out and shred it and put it back in. Add the herbs and salt and pepper to taste and enjoy the comforting goodness of this healthy corn chowder.