This has been a quiet week at work and that’s alright with me, it’s nice to enjoy a little low time before charging into the new year. Time to continue to snap away with our new camera, my poor pets. But I just love the lighting and detail of this shot, the flash on my little camera would have whited her out and given her a serious case of red eye.
And I’m loving the shutter speed for being able to catch him all squinty-eyed mid paw clean.
We’re geeks for this shot, I know and I’m okay with that. But check out the water drip detail. This would have been a blurry mess using my old cam.
Besides being camera obsessed this week, I’m also obsessed with corn and lentils because I’ve been craving them a lot lately. Especially since they’re cheap and easy to cook. I had about a cup left of green lentils to use up and was craving a hot stew after running around in monsoon wind and rain all day. I hit up AllRecipes for a little inspiration and found this highly rated recipe. It’s a little too full of meat and dairy products for my taste, but it looks simple and cheap using mostly cans and probably pretty flavorful considering. So I decided to veganize it utilizing what I had.
Southwestern Corn Stew
- 1 cup dried green lentils
- 16 oz. bag of frozen corn
- 4 cups veggie broth
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3-5 carrots, chopped
- 2 medium zucchinis, chopped
- 5 roma tomatoes, chopped
- 3 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
Caramelize onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until onions are translucent.
Bring veggie broth and lentils to a boil in large soup pot. Reduce heat and add onion/garlic mixture, tomatoes, corn, carrots, zucchini, chili powder, cumin, oregano and cayenne. Simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes and serve.
Top with Daiya cheddar shreds, fresh chopped cilantro, nutritional yeast, vegan sour cream, hot sauce – whatever looks good. I used Daiya shreds and cilantro because I’m in love with fresh chopped cilantro in bean dishes.
There’s something about the texture and flavor that corn adds to stews and in this case it adds a slight sweetness that blends nicely with spice blend. And thoroughly mixing the Daiya shreds through the dish was quite yummy.
After I threw this together, I realized it a delicious variation of my Lentil Quinoa Chili, more proof that I’m obsessed with lentils and corn. But since I’m now out of lentils, I need to start getting creative with the bags of other dried beans filling my pantry. Which this recipe would work with just about any bean variety – black beans, chickpeas, black eyed peas. And you can use a variety of veggies in it – throw in anything that needs to be used up in place of the zucchini and carrots.
Mimi (Gingersnaps) says
That looks really friggin’ tasty! What are your thoughts on Daiya? I’ve heard good things but it’s a bit expensive. I’m curious!
christine says
I like, I think it has more seasoned flavor than traditional cheddar cheese. I only buy it from Whole Foods once every few months or so for certain recipe cravings, so the price isn’t an issue. It is a splurge food to me not providing any significant nutritional value, just fun once in awhile.
Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) says
the corn stew looks great…reminds me of what i call my spicy southwestern soup. same concept…veggies, corn, spices, except I use beans not lentils and it’s funny a reader wrote to me about lentils today and do i use them in that soup or not. your stew looks delish!
lovin that you’re experimenting w/ your new camera. Tomorrow is camera playday in my house! i am excited to start!
christine says
That’s funny about the beans and lentils, the original recipe I based this one off of used black beans and really any beans would probably be good.
The camera is so much fun, can’t wait to see your shots with it.
Madeline - Greens and Jeans says
I feel like the excitement of a new camera takes awhile to fade. I’ve had mine for MONTHS and I still get excited to play with it!
christine says
Awesome, I can see being excited to play with it months down the road. I just got a new bag for it and was thrilled about that. :-P
Jen R. says
Aw your little dog is so cute!! That stew looks amazing..I love those flavours especially in this weather
Anna @ Newlywed, Newly Veg says
Oooh, I love that water shot!! Great pics!
Peggy says
I absolutely love that water shot! And this meal sounds to die for!