Sweet Corn and Raw Almond Chowder

Ingredients

3¼ cups fresh or cooked yellow corn kernels (from 4 large ears)
2 cups water
½ cup raw almonds
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small garlic clove
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1½ teaspoons chopped cilantro or parsley leaves
Freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. In a blender, combine 2¼ cups of the corn with the water, almonds, olive oil, garlic and salt and puree until smooth. If using a Vitamix, blend for a total of 5 minutes or until steaming. Otherwise, heat soup in a pot on medium heat.

2. Pour the soup into bowls. Garnish with the remaining 1 cup of corn kernels, the cilantro and a sprinkle of pepper, then serve.

MAKE AHEAD The corn chowder can be refrigerated overnight.

Cream of Celery Soup

I found this recipe in my Vita-Mix cookbook after lamenting the fact that I had a surplus of celery stalks that were about to see their last days. This soup is amazing because rather than cooking it, destroying the celery's natural enzymes, which help with digestion, the Vita-mix blends the soup for about six minutes, which heats it up to just the right temperature, leaving the celery in it's fresh, raw form. Incidentally, this recipe also calls for cooked potatoes, of which I just happened to have leftover from the previous night's dinner. Providence was smiling on me at lunch today.

Ingredients:
2 cups vegetable broth or water
1 pound celery with leaves
2 medium potatoes, cooked and chopped
1/2 cup onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, roasted
Salt and pepper to taste (I used 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper)

P.S. (I used one cube of this brand of vegetable bouillon with 2 cups water instead of the broth. I love it because it is the only brand I've ever encountered that does not contain MSG...)

Directions:
Step 1: Saute onions in butter until slightly browned.

Step 2: Place all ingredients in a Vita-Mix, and blend, starting on variable speed 1, then turning it all the way up to the highest speed. Blend for 6 to 7 minutes.

Honestly, only about 20 percent of my kids liked this, but I, myself, enjoyed it quite a lot, and felt like a better person for having slurped it...

...and I think you will, too. Enjoy.