Black Bean and Corn Stew

Another stew recipe. I've got fall fever and I think you'll be seeing a lot of these kinds of recipes!

So Meatless Monday came again and I was loathe to make pasta. I had narrowed it down to a few Mexican-inspired dishes and this one was the winner: Black Bean and Corn Stew.

This is an Everyday Food recipe I've had on hand for a while. The ingredients are simple and come largely from cans. It makes a ton, and if you follow the original recipe, probably makes even more. It originally calls for adding 2 cups of water instead of the one I put; judge for yourself. I think it would cease being stew and fall into the soup column. (Or maybe Rachel Ray would argue it's "stoup." Blech.)

Black Bean and Corn Stew

4 tsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles

1 cans (15-oz each) black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans (14.5-oz each) diced tomatoes

salt

1 package (10-oz) frozen corn.

1. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion; cook until softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and cumin; cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes more.

2. To the pan, add the chiles, beans, tomatoes and their juices, 1 cup water, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.

3. In a blender or food processor, purée 2 cups of stew. Return the purée to the pan, and add the frozen corn; simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

The Verdict: I wouldn't choose this as my meal to eat forever on a desert island, but it was very good. Noyan liked it and Amir cleaned his plate.

I didn't think there was anything special about this dish. I don't generally cook with chiles, so that was a nice change and a great flavor. I served our stew with sour cream and both warmed tortillas and corn muffins (don't ask me why I went with a double starch). You can also serve with cheddar cheese, diced red onion, toasted pumpkin seeds, and/or chopped chives. For whatever reason, I wasn't thinking about these additions and didn't have any on hand. I think a little cheese and chives would have been really delicious.

Where it does make leftovers, one place I loved this stew was in a breakfast burrito. Scramble an egg and heat up a little of this stew. Place both, as well as a slice of cheese, in a warmed burrito. Ate that yesterday and was sad that Amir wanted cereal for breakfast today as I'd have been as happy as a lark eating this two days in a row.