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You could call this recipe "Creamy Zucchini, Corn, & Basil Soup" -- or you could just keep it simple and call it "Summer In A Pot." Either or, whatever you want.
I harvested a MONSTER zucchini from my garden, the baseball bat kind that you have to scoop the seeds out of. All of my recent zucchini adventures have included pickles, cake, cookies, and the good ol' classic - fried zucchini. So I decided it was time to bring it back to level ground with a healthy recipe. HealthiER at least.
This soup is somewhat similar to the Zucchini Spinach Soup I did as part of my freezer cooking series for the Whole30 blog. But with corn and garden basil and the option to serve it cold, this version is WAY better suited for summer!
Creamy Zucchini, Corn, & Basil Soup
Ingredients
1 small onion (or a few small garden onions), chopped
1 monster zucchini (~6 cups chopped)
4-5 cups corn (fresh, frozen, whatever you have)
1/2 cup - 1 cup packed fresh basil
3-4 cups chicken stock
1 can Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat a large pot with a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat.
- Add chopped onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until onion is translucent.
- To the same pot, add chopped zucchini, corn, basil, chicken stock, salt, and pepper.
TIP: Chicken stock shouldn't quite cover the ingredients in the pot. You can always add more later to thin it out, so don't add too much now. - Bring all ingredients to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes or until the zucchini is translucent.
- Remove the pot from the heat and blend using either an immersion blender OR transferring in batches to a regular blender.
TIP: I started with my stick blender, but then ended up polishing it off in my regular blender because it just wasn't getting smooth enough! - After the soup is totally blended and smooth, stir in the can of coconut milk. If you'd like it to be thinner at this point, add in some more chicken stock.
TIP: Taste the soup and see if you are happy with the texture and seasonings. Since I used frozen corn that had previously been cooked, the kernels were a bit tough, and I decided to strain the whole pot of soup. If you use fresh corn, this may be totally unnecessary. - To strain, pour soup in batches into a fine mesh sieve. Stir with a metal spoon, scraping the kernels from the bottom and allowing the soup to strain through. Just a heads up, this step is a bit of a pain in the ass, BUT it gave the soup such an awesome velvety texture that it was worth itttt.
- Serve immediately OR chill and serve cold.
