A Thought For Food: Chilled Corn Soup

Everyone has their own definition of what beauty is.  Throughout my childhood, I struggled to understand what that was.  My weight fluctuated (though it was mostly at an incline) throughout my youth.  But at some point in my late teens, I took a moment to reflect on my life, and, in particular, the role that food played in it.

 At the age of 16, I stopped eating chicken and beef and I became a pescatarian.  I didn’t do it for ethical reasons or as a form of rebellion, but, instead, because it made me feel better about myself.  I immediately felt a difference, in my body as well as my mind. 

Since those years, I’ve thought a lot about what beauty means to me.  And what it comes down to is this:  true beauty comes when you feel good about who you are.  I stopped focusing on how I looked and decided that the important thing was to eat healthier and to stay physically active.

That’s not to say that I’m a health nut.  I enjoy “bad” foods just as much as the next person.  But eating these foods feels somewhat superficial to me.  What really gets me going is a big salad or a perfectly cooked piece of fish.  They’re the foods that leave me satisfied, but not feeling guilty (nor overstuffed).

And this is what Operation Beautiful is all about: feeling good about who we are.  And that means putting things in our body that we not only enjoy, but are healthy too.

 Which leads me to this recipe for Chilled Corn Soup.  During these hot summer days (which are winding down at a frightening pace), I have been aching for soup.  Being tired of the traditional gazpacho, I immediately perused the web for other ideas.  As soon as I came across this at Gourmet.com, I knew I had to make it.

What struck me about this dish is how simply, yet effectively, it uses its ingredients.  It’s beautiful in and of itself.  Eating it makes me appreciate the beauty in this world and the beauty inside of me. 

 Chilled Corn Soup
(from Gourmet.com, August 2008)
Serves 6

Active time:15 min
Start to finish:1 1/2 hr

Simmering the cobs lends depth to a cool essence-of-corn soup, enhanced with a swirl of sour cream and a sprinkling of chives. 
Ingredients
3 ears of corn, shucked
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 1/2 cups water
sour cream (for garnish)
chopped chives (for garnish)

Directions
Cut kernels from cobs with a sharp knife, then cut cobs into thirds.

Cook onion and garlic in butter with 1/4 tsp salt in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add corn and cobs, water, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes.

Discard cobs, then purée corn mixture in batches in a blender until very smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Force soup through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids.

Chill until cold, at least 1 hour. Thin with water if desired and season with salt.

Cooks’ note: Soup can be chilled up to 3 days.

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