Smoky Corn, Tomato and Chard Soup

Smoky Corn, Tomato, and Chard Soup
serves 4 (freezable too)

Soup tends to be a cold weather food so you don't often see it made with super summery ingredients.  (Unless we are talking about chilled soups in which case...gross.)  But soup can be a great way to cook up the abundance of produce that can accumulate in your fridge or garden in the summer.  This soup combines summery produce like corn, zucchini, and greens with pantry staples like canned tomatoes, beans, and spices.  If you want to improvise a similar soup based on what you have in your fridge now, check out my Building Flavor Guide, which will show you the correct order to add ingredients to your soup pot to ensure a great complex flavor!

1 yellow onion, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 zucchini, chopped into 1/2" pieces
2 earns of corn, kernels removed
1 15-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups-ish water
1 bunch Swiss Chard, chopped (can use stems or not)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pot.  Add onions and celery with a pinch of salt and saute for 5 minutes, letting them soften.  Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds more.  Add smoked paprika, cumin, and coriander and stir.  Add zucchini and saute for 2 minutes more.

2. When vegetable mixture is fragrant and beginning to soften, add corn, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, black beans, and enough water to make it soup-ish, about 2 cups.  (Vegetables will continue to release water so it will get more liquidy, not less, as it cooks.)  Let cook for at least 10 minutes but as long as you want to help flavors meld and develop. 

3. After soup has simmered, turn off heat and fold into chopped Swiss Chard.  Taste and season for salt and pepper.  Serve on it's own or garnished with avocado, tortillas, tortillas chips or a sprouted grain roll.