Southwestern Corn Chowder

I veganaized this Cookie & Kate recipe for no particular reason so I cannot tell if my blasé reaction to it is due to the lack of butter/creme *or* the fact that I am making a corn soup in February (and therefore with frozen kernels). I'm not sure, though I often find frozen corn to be nearly as sweet as summer cobs. I even tried to add some pizazz with add-ons/garnishes (made it during the Super Bowl so had assorted chips on hand that I tried to crumble up and toss on top, along with extra cilantro) to no avail. Either way, this one didn't impress me-- even with an extra splash of lime juice and churn of my pepper grinder. I'll certainly finish it off (unlike my last soup...) but not one to repeat. 

"Marry Me" Tuscan Vegetable Soup

UPDATE: This was just too much for me – too many flavors, too many textures. I ended up tossing about half the pot (which is very unusual for me). I think the gnocchi, in particular, just made it too... hearty (?) for my tastes. I suppose I won't be marrying this soup or anyone who cooks it for me anytime soon! ;) 

"Marry Me" style-recipes have been floating around blogs and social media for a bit now. I'm not sure that I love the premise (this recipe is so good that the person eating it will immediately want to marry the chef?!?), but as far as I can tell they have a common theme of creamy base, protein, and oftentimes sun-dried tomatoes? 

I decided I'd try out the trend with this Marry Me Tuscan Vegetable Soup . A few notes: 

• The recipe didn't specify smoked or sweet paprika, and I only had smoked on hand so I used that. That said, my suspicion was that sweet was the preferred choice, so I only used half (still 1 Tbl.!) of [smoked] paprika. It was plenty smoky/flavorful! I think that I'd use sweet if I had a re-do. Not bad smokey, but sweet paprika likely would 'go' with the soup better. 
• I made and used cashew cream (linked from recipe) which was harder to get creamy than I expected (though ultimately it worked with a bit more water in my Vitamix). I made the savory vs. sweet cashew cream (1 garlic clove instead of the maple syrup). 
• I used a full 16 oz. package of shelf-stable but not dried gnocchi. 
• I did add kale at the end. 

This is a very hearty soup between the gnocchi, chick peas, and cashews in the creamy broth – plus the veggies. It is also a different flavor combination than I'm used to (I rarely cook with leeks or sun-dried tomatoes these days). There's a lot going on with it! I *do* really like the use of cashew cream in the soup broth, so I may seek out other recipes that use this technique in the future.

Today is a snowy blustery day in Denver so this soup was a great fit. I'm not sure that I love it (let alone prepared to drop everything and marry whoever serves this to me...) but I'm glad that I tried it and expect that I'll appreciate eating off it for leftovers this week.