Sweet Potato Corn Chowder

I made this soup last night for dinner and liked it so much that I ended up making a pot to take to a friend today. She had a baby in the week after Christmas and just last Tuesday was back in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy! Poor girl, I know the last thing on her mind right now is making dinner, so I hope she enjoys this soup as much as we did. My kids even ate it, which is significant because they're picky little stinkers! Here's the recipe as written; I'll make note of my changes at the end.

Sweet Potato Corn Chowder from Midwest Living magazine

• 12 ounces andouille, kielbasa or smoked pork sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
• 2 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (6 cloves)
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon Cajun or Creole seasoning
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 16 ounce package frozen whole kernel corn or 3 cups fresh sweet corn kernels
• 2 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled sweet potato (about 2 small)
• 12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a 6-quart Dutch oven, brown sausage over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add onion, celery and garlic. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Stir in flour, cumin, chili powder and Cajun seasoning. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Stir in chicken broth. Bring to boiling.
2. Add corn, sweet potatoes, and chicken. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Stir in whipping cream and pepper; heat through. Makes 8 to 10 main-dish servings.

**Heidi's alterations:
*Most importantly, I halved the recipe. Half was plenty for my little family of 4, with about 3 bowls left over.
*I didn't want a lot of heat so I used smoked sausage made of turkey, beef and pork. I cut the pieces into quarters rather than halves so it would be more evenly distributed throughout the soup.
*I didn't have any Cajun or Creole seasoning, so I added a bit of paprika, dried onion powder, dried garlic powder, a tiny shake of cayenne, and some black pepper.
*I used drained canned corn instead of frozen or fresh.
*I just used one chicken breast, and didn't weigh it.

When I took it to my friend today, I accompanied it with a pan of Marie Callender's cornbread, which is my favorite. Usually I use a copycat recipe for it, but last week I found bags of the dried mix at Costco for around $3.00. Each bag makes 5 batches, so that's cheaper than I can make it from scratch!

It was a good winter meal, and one I'll definitely be making again!