Spicy Sweet Potato-Corn Chowder with Ham

Pin It This recipe is taken from the new Weight Watchers cookbook called Make Ahead Meals.  I just bought this cookbook and at a quick glance, I found at least 5-6 recipes I could easily make with ingredients I would typically have on-hand...this is the first one.  So far, I'm giving this cookbook a 5/5 rating just for the fact that the recipes look simple enough and call for ingredients that are common (not something I have to run to the specialty store for!)

Spicy Sweet Potato-Corn Chowder with Ham
Serves 6
4 points+ per serving

2 tsp olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 stalks celery, chopped

2 tsp flour
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 carton reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 chipotle in adobo sauce, minced
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups fresh or frozen corn
6 oz lean ham steak, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup light (5% MF) cream
2 Tbsp minced chives

Heat oil in large sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Add onion, celery and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in flour and cayenne and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.

Add broth, potatoes, chipotle and salt; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, over and simmer until potato is tender, about 10 minutes.  Stir in corn, ham and cream and cook until heated through, 2-3 minutes.

Ladle soup evenly into 6 bowls and sprinkle with chives.  Can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

MY MODIFICATIONS:
I didn't have cayenne, so I used Chipotle Chili Powder.  I also didn't realize until I was typing this out that I did not buy reduced sodium ham...but I did buy the no-salt added chicken broth, which is SUPER low in sodium.  Points are more my concern here than sodium, since it's just for me :)  I also didn't bother with the chives and I used red onion and my onion wasn't so "finely chopped"...but I like onions and don't mind bigger pieces in my soup.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
If you have never used chipotle peppers before, BEWARE.  They are hot.  Some people have mistakenly used an entire CAN of peppers where a recipe calls for one pepper from the can.  A can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce usually has 5-6 peppers in it.  ONLY USE ONE - I like my food spicy/hot and with one pepper it is plenty hot for me.  Once you open the can, you can freeze the leftovers for another time - they freeze quite well.  I put mine in a Ziploc-type bag.

I have only had a tiny taste of the broth so far and it is YUMMY!  It'll be my supper tonight, so if the full bowl is a letdown, I'll come back and let ya know.  I think it'll be a 5/5.