The autumn weather is closing in… Chilly mornings and early sunsets. 

The upside is that soups and stews are now on the cards again. Yay!

The downside is that I'm now having to use my lamp to photograph my dinners again, it's easy to take for granted the summer sunlight during long summer days when the light stays bright till well past eight and photo shoots of dinners are quick and simple. Not so much when winter draws in- more organisation and better technique is required… well at least to me as I'm still very much a novice when it comes to artificial light photography. Maybe this will be the season I actually put some extra effort into learning the skills!

I actually thought I was going to be lucky and catch the daylight on this one, but there is always that fine balance between daylight, dusk in dark that only last about 10 minutes and yes on this occasion I ended up being just that 10 minutes too late. 

The photos aren't that bad in actual fact, the shadows are bit too harsh but the dish itself still looks the part and it certainly tastes the part. This was an amazing combination of mixed beans, roasted peppers and fresh corn on the cob. You can use any beans you wish. I had planned to use with kidney beans but realised I had none so subbed these for black beans at the last minute. Anything goes!

I also made this soup in aid of SouperSeptember, I saw a link on twitter in which donations, recipes and soup kitchens were being sent in and set up in aid of Broadway Homelessness and Support.

So this is my little offering.

Recipe: Pulsin' mexican corn soup

Ingredients: 

• 1 large onion- sliced
• 1 heaped tsp cumin seeds and ½ tsp chilli powder (or a sliced chili)
• 2/3 cup red lentils
• 3 ½ cups vegetable stock
• 1 can tomatoes (400g)
• Handful of fresh oregano
• 1 can black beans (400g)
• 1 can red kidney beans (400g)
• 2 peppers- cut into chunky strips
• 4 corn on the cob (or add loose corn to the soup itself)

Method: 

Sauté the onion with the spices in a dash of oil in a large pan for 4-5 minutes until softening. Add the lentils, tomatoes  and veg stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes, add one can of the beans and simmer for a further 5 minutes.  Add the oregano, remove the pan from the heat and blend until fairly smooth.

Meanwhile lightly coat the strips of pepper in oil and bake or grill until soft and slightly charred, sprinkle with spices (I used a little sumac) if desired.  Boil the corn cobs (if using.)

Once the soup is blended add the remaining can of beans* and simmer to warm through. Add the loose corn here also if using.

Serve and add the corn to the side. Add extra oregano leaves if desired.

*blend one can of beans and leave one can whole- depending on which beans you want to be ‘visible’ and preferred colour of soup base.