Comfort Corn Soup with Tomato-Pineapple Salsa

For me, corn has always been the perfect vegetable. Not very healthy, I know - but it's so tasty. And comforting.. when I was a kid, one of my favorite meals was frozen corn, heated in some salted water, and topped with a dollop of butter. I don't eat it like that anymore, but I do like a few corn kernels tossed in when cooking various dishes. Per doesn't quite share my appriciation so I reserve my corn-based meals for when I'm alone. Like this soup. It's incredibly comforting, smooth and silky. It goes perfectly with the fresh salsa, which provides a nice contrasting texture and a hint of summer.

Comfort Corn Soup
Serves 2 for lunch (or just one, very greedy, person)

1/2 carrot, grated
1-2 cloves of garlic, grated
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 pinch of dried oregano
1 pinch of dried thyme
1 tsp olive oil
300 g corn kernels (from a jar or frozen is fine)
salt
1 tbsp concentrated chicken stock
400 ml water (plus more, to thin out)
1-2 tbsp half and half, or regular cream

Heat the olive oil in a large pan, and add the carrot, garlic, onion and dried herbs. Cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat until softened. Add the corn. Cook for five minutes, until it starts to smell real good. Add salt, stock and water, bring to a boil and let it cook for five minutes.

Get your handy-dandy blender-on-a-stick (or just use a food processor) and blitz the soup until smooth. Add water if you want a thinner texture. Finish with a little bit of cream, and serve. Top with the salsa.

Tomato-Pineapple Salsa
1 plum tomato, finely diced
1 tbsp pineapple, finely diced
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp red onion, finely diced
1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
salt, black pepper, pinch of sugar


This one is simple. Combine everything in a small bowl, and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar. That's all there's to it.

Majssoppa med tomat-ananassalsa