Chicken corn chowda lite AKA: I ran out of cream

If we ever have any chicken and corn left over from a barbeque - which is a rarity- I like to make chicken corn chowder.  It's so easy and makes a great, hearty weekend lunch before soccer games.  I love to load it up with a bunch of potatoes and thicken it with a bit of cream to make it even better.  

On Friday night, we just so happened to have both chicken AND corn left over after our barbeque dinner so I decided to make us some Saturday soup.  However, as usual I was out of one of the key ingredients: cream.  

As I have found with most of my cooking endeavors, sometimes mistakes turn out for the better.  In this case, I found that omitting the cream turned the chowder into a light delicious springtime treat!  Here's my recipe for chicken corn chowda lite!

Chicken Corn Chowda Lite

• 2 cooked chicken breasts* 
• 1/2 cup cooked corn kernels (leftover corn on the cob is perfect)
• 2 Tbsps butter
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1 rib celery diced
• 2 small carrots diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 3 medium or 2 large Eastern potatoes sliced
• 6 cups chicken broth
• salt & pepper

Cut the chicken breasts into bite size pieces and set aside with the corn.  In a soup pot, add the butter, onions, celery carrots and bay leaf.  Cook on medium for about 5 minutes stirring frequently.  Add the parsley and potatoes and toss to coat.  Add chicken broth and bring to a slight boil.  Turn down the heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.  Add the chicken, corn and salt & pepper to taste.  Once the chicken is heated through, remove from the stove and serve.  

*You can use any type of cooked chicken, but for some reason chicken that was cooked with a little barbeque sauce on it tastes particularly good in this recipe.  In fact, I may even add some barbeque sauce to my soup if I'm using any other type of cooked chicken just to give it that extra kick.