What's Cooking? Corn Chowder with Bacon!

I cooked! This turned out quite yummy I thought and other than being all thumbs at the chopping and dicing and whatnot, it was pretty simple to make.

Corn and Bacon Chowder

2 slices turkey bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tbs. + 2 tsp. water
1 onion, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 med. potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups whole kernel corn
1/4 cups half and half

1. In a medium nonstick saucepan over medium high heat, cook the bacon in 2tbs. of water until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel and discard the liquid. (I used pre cooked oscar myer bacon and I left the liquid in the pan, there wasn't that much)

2. Add the onion, bell pepper and 2 tsp. of water to the saucepan; saute until soft, about 5 min. Add the broth and potatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are almost tender, about 15 min. Stir in the corn; simmer 5 min. longer. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

3. Transfer two cups of the soup to a food processor or blender. Puree. Pour back into the saucepan; stir in the half & half and heat to serving temp. Serve, topped w/the bacon pieces.

Makes 4 servings -- I got more like 5 1/2; but the WW cookbook says if you divide the soup into fourths, each serving is four points.

I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I know a novice like myself should probably stick to the recipe the first time but I'm not big on onions OR peppers and I was feeling brave. So I used 1/2 instead of a whole onion and not quite a half of a red bell pepper instead of yellow (thought it'd be prettier). I diced them both as small as I possibly could and added the onions to my food chopper to get them even smaller. I think it worked out pretty well...I don't mind the small peppers and the soup doesn't have an onion-y flavor at all. Of course someone who LIKES onions might have found it bland. I used Green Giant Sweet and Super Sweet whole kernel corn from a can. The recipe doesn't call for salt or pepper, but I added both. It's better after it has set for a while...I actually liked it MUCH more on the second day. The crumbly bacon on top makes it even better.

**11/15/07 Update: Made this for the second time. Used regular bacon and regular chicken broth. Microwaved the bacon at the last minute for topping instead of cooking it first thing. I also let the mixture that went into the blender puree longer this time. Even tastier than the first go round!