2 bacon slices
Cooking spray
1 pound skinned, boned chicken breast -- cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves -- minced
4 1/2 cups fat-free chicken broth
1 3/4 cups diced peeled red potatoes
2 1/4 cups frozen whole-kernel corn
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% low-fat milk
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese -- (3 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
fresh chives and ground chipotle powder -- optional

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high (i did med-low) heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan. Crumble; set aside. Add chicken, onion, bell pepper, and garlic to bacon fat in pan; sauté 5 minutes. Add broth and potatoes; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add corn; stir well.

Place flour in a bowl. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended; add to soup. Cook over medium heat 15 minutes or until thick (I did med-low for less time) , stirring frequently. Stir in cheese, salt, and pepper. Top with crumbled bacon.

Misc Posted Notes: I also probably added a cup of cheese instead of 3/4 cup, because I wanted to get rid of my leftover scraps of cheddar. I did have a couple of issues...I've never cooked bacon on med-high and I'm not going to start now. I chopped my bacon up and cooked it on med-low. Also, I don't think you need to "simmer" it for 15 minutes on medium at the end. It was boiling on med. so I put it on med-low and just simmered it for about half that time.

Stacy's Notes - Made Jan 2004. We really liked this! I used soy bacon, but won't do that again, next time either use real bacon or turkey bacon. I left out the red bell pepper and added more diced onion and a lot more garlic. I also used skim milk instead of 2%, so I added more cheese, about 1 to 1 1/4 cup. I also added some dried rosemary and thyme, and also some ground chipotle powder Very good!