Creamy Corn and White Bean Soup

Serves 2 to 3

My mother got the idea for this corn and bean soup recipe from a magazine. She made some changes to the original and what resulted is a quick, easy and tasty main dish. For a vegetarian version, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. The recipe can easily be doubled as needed.

Ingredients

• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 2 medium celery ribs, diced
• 1 small potato, peel on or off, diced
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (about 15.5 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can (about 19 ounces) cannellini or white kidney beans, rinsed and drained (see notes below)
• 1 cup milk
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste

Place the broth, onion, carrots, celery, potato and garlic in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to low; cover and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the corn, beans, milk, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring back to a boil and then reduce to low. Cover and simmer until hot, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Notes: Most beans come in smaller cans of 15 or 16 ounces. If that is what you have on hand, you can use two cans, freezing about three-quarters of one of the cans to add to a salad or another soup. Alternately, just use one can and add another small potato to make up for the missing beans. I prefer to use low-sodium or no-salt-added beans. The choice is yours.