Cheddar Chicken Chowder

My bestie, Amy Z servers this each year at the annual cookie party! It is one of my FAVORITE soups! Truly she mentioned changing it up to a new soup, and I protested. The soup is a counterpoint to all the
delicious sweetness of the cookies and frosting. Amy denoted that the original recipe is from Cooking Light. Since I love it sooo much. I decided to give it a try, the results = amazing as always..

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove
bacon from pan; cool and crumble. Set aside. Add chicken , onion, bell
pepper and garlic to drippings in pan; saute 5 minutes. Add broth and
potatoes; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or
until potato is tender. Add corn; stir well. Lightly spoon flour into a
dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a bowl. Gradually
add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended; add to soup. Bring to a
boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, simmer 15 minutes
or until thick, stirring frequently. Stir in cheddar cheese, salt and
black pepper. Top with bacon.

Makes 7 servings, each 306 calories, 7.5 grams fat, 25 grams protein,
33.7 grams carbohydrates, 2.9 grams fiber, 58 milligrams cholesterol,
1.6 milligrams iron, 376 milligrams sodium, 193 milligrams calcium.

Notes from Amy

• when making this in large volumes, be sure to minimize
  the amount of liquid you add. For the 2 double batches I made this week
  I used 7 cups each of chicken broth (rather than the 9 cups the recipe
  listed) and 3 cups of milk rather than 4.
• a 3-pound bag of red potatoes yields just over 7 cups
  of peeled diced potato. And a 2-pound bag of frozen whole kernel corn is
  just about 7 cups so you’ll need 2.