Comfort Food- Vegetarian Mexican Corn Stew

This soup is one of our absolute favorites and we have been making it for probably about 20 years now. Though we have tweaked it to be our own and to include things we love- the base of the recipe is the same: Feel good food and good for your food. And todays version – is using what we have on hand and staying home.

I remember when we found the recipe in Vegetarian Times Magazine back.in.the.day and it was an instant hit with everyone. But today- the recipe has a bit of a twist. It is Mexican corn stew- without the corn.  We didn’t have any fresh or frozen corn on hand- and so- we omitted it and replaced it with some extra veggies.

The other thing to note- we are vegetarians so this is a vegetarian soup- with plant based pea protein crumbles and non dairy garnishes. But you can of course use whatever version of those you would like to if you are not following a plant based diet.

Here are the ingredients we used:  Basically- ALL the veggies you want. 🙂

About 1 cup of each of whatever you include 

1 cup Carrots

3 or 4 stalks of Celery

1 cup Broccoli

1 medium Zucchini

1 cup Cauliflower

1/2  Bell pepper

1 cup Corn

Fresh chopped Garlic & Onion

We use about 3/4 cup of red onion and 6-8  cloves of fresh garlic

Beans 

We had Kidney beans and garbanzo on hand- so that is what we used- but use your favorites- black beans, etc. they will work fine.

1 can Kidney Beans

1 can Garbanzo Beans

Fresh or jar salsa to create the base

1 cup Salsa

1 cup of plant based pea protein (or your choice) 

Seasonings

All to taste

Chili Powder

Sea Salt

Pepper

Fresh last minute soup additions and toppings

1 cup Fresh Spinach

1/2 cup Fresh Cilantro

1 tomato- diced

Garnish with your choice and amount of: 

Cilantro

Avocado

Shredded cheese

Sour cream

Salsa

Fresh dice tomatoes

Crumbled tortilla chips

This is super easy to make- simply chop up your veggies and start the cauliflower, broccoli & carrots, onion and garlic all  simmering in a pot with the beans and 3 cups of water.

Bring to a simmer and let cook for about 10 minutes before adding the zucchini, celery and bell pepper (and corn) and then bring to a simmer. 

*If using regular meat- pre-cook your ground meat and then add it to the soup. or use plant based crumbles. 

Season to taste while simmering about 10 minutes. My husband goes a little heavy on the chili powder- and you can add cayenne or anything else if you want a bit more zip.

We generally cook this for about 20-25 minutes depending on how firm you like your beans and veggies. You could cook it longer and have more of a ‘mush’ in your mouth factor if that is what you perfect. 

Right before serving- add your fresh spinach and cilantro the pot  and mix well.

When you are ready to serve- fill your bowl with soup and top with your choice of garnishes.

Don’t forget the crumble of tortilla chips as a little indulgence- so good!

Seriously simple to make and it is such a feel good and good for your soup. The best part is you can absolutely customize it with your favorites and to taste easily – and you can use what you have on hand.

This usually lasts us a couple of days – it makes a nice large pot of soup. 

My husband tends to like to cook for an army lol. 

So depending on the size of your family and how much leftover you would like-

 just adjust the amounts of the ingredients to how much you would normally use.

Trying to share a quick video I made of my husband cooking – sorry for all the issues with video today- not sure what is going on but they are working on it.