Roasted Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup

I know it's warming up a bit outside, and the hard-core soup season is practically over.... but this soup was so light and tasty, I couldn't resist making it yesterday for dinner. The creamed corn creates such an excellent flavor undertone to the whole soup, and the surprising zing of the sesame seed oil is so addicting, it's hard to not think about having another bowl-full before you even finish the one your working on. The broth was divine. Another excellent plus: I made this soup in 30 minutes. No joke.

Oh, dear corn. What history we have together. While I was growing up, I remember my Mom would serving corn pretty frequently. My Grandma and Grandpa have a giant garden, and they'd fill it mostly with corn. Obviously the two of them couldn't eat it all on their own. So around harvest time, the family would come together, shuck that corn for hours and hours, cook it up, slice the corn off the cob, and bag it for everyone's freezers. I think it's safe to say corn was a huge part of our meals because of it - especially Sunday dinners.

Roasted Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup

2 cans creamed corn

1 box chicken stock (we use Rachel Ray)

8 oz ditalini pasta

3 cups chicken, roasted, shredded (I roasted mine up with McCormick Monterrey Chicken Seasoning)

1 onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

salt & pepper

1 teaspoon sesame oil

4 cups water

1 veggie & herb bouillon cube

I didn't start off with store-bought roasted chicken (you surely can, if you want to, it would be much easier), add a teeny bit of olive oil to your soup pot on medium. Add your chicken, season with salt and pepper (and whatever seasoning is to your liking - this soup is very flexible), and cook until your chicken gains that rich, roasted color. Remove your chicken to rest. Add chopped onion and garlic to the pan turn down your heat a little (don't want to burn your garlic), cook until your onion is transparent. De-glaze your pan with little of your chicken stock, it will sizzle right up. 

Next, to your pot, mix in your 2 cans of creamed corn, the rest of your chicken stock, salt and pepper, sesame oil, water, and broken up bouillon. Bring to a boil, stirring every so often, then add your ditalini pasta to the soup. When the noodles are cooked through, it's ready to serve.