Marleny's Green Corn Soup
Serves 6-8. This fresh, mid-summer recipe is a twist on that of my friend Marleny. Marleny and I used to work in the kitchen together at a farm/summer camp, where we came up with creative ideas for presenting campers with tasty goodness from what was grown right outside.
Step 1: Create a soup seasoning
Mix together and reserve:
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
¼ tsp cayenne
Step 2: Soup it up
Ingredients:
8 cups corn kernels (fresh cut off cob, ideally, but frozen or canned also works)
1 lb of tomatillos, sliced (or more to taste)
2 large yellow onions, diced
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
2 tsp oregano, fresh or dried
2 tsp thyme, fresh or dried
2 Russet potatoes, peeled and ½ inch diced
12 cups veggie stock, and preferably half fresh corn stock—see note below
Pro step: Take your corn cobs, cut in half, put into a pot and cover with 6 cups water. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes, cover with lid and let sit for 20 minutes. Strain, and use this corn stock in the soup.
Preparation:
Add 12 cups of stock to a pot, add in the oregano, thyme, potatoes, and 6 cups of the corn. Meanwhile, sautee tomatillos in a lightly oiled pan until translucent and soft. Add a pinch of salt and half of the soup seasoning, mixing to combine, then add tomatillos to the soup pot. Sautee the onions until translucent as well and add those to the pot. Lastly, sautee the remaining 2 cups of corn, mixing in the rest of the seasoning to the corn with a pinch of salt, and reserve the corn in a bowl to mix in at the very end.
Bring soup pot to a boil, and simmer with lid on until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Gently blend in a Vitamix or with an immersion wand. You don’t want baby food, you want to blend just enough to break down the tomatillos and potatoes into a homogeneous soup. After blending, mix in the cooked corn, cilantro, and add a nice dash of good olive oil to finish. Adjust your salt as needed.
Step 3: Toss sauteed tempeh with lime
Ingredients:
8oz tempeh, cut in small ¼ inch cubes or ¼ inch slices
2 tsp finely minced garlic
1 tbsp lime
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil for sauteeing
Preparation:
Cut your tempeh and prepare a good sautee pan with an even layer of olive oil. Add your tempeh to the pan and bring your pan up to a medium high heat. Gently cook your tempeh until golden-brown, halfway through adding in your minced garlic. If the tempeh is cut thin enough, this should take 2-3 minutes max. Add your tempeh to a mixing bowl, evenly coating with salt, pepper, and lime.
Garnish your bowl of soup with some freshly cooked tempeh. In true Marleny fashion, complete your dish with a prayer: May all brings have happiness, and no suffering!