Red lentils with salsa and corn

 

When I saw this recipe for red lentil salsa soup from The Washington Post, I was very excited to try it. I'd never thought of using lentils in a Mexican-style dish, which was intriguing. Plus, it was fairly simple and seemed doable on weeknights after work.

However, unfortunately David really isn't the biggest fan of soup. But, I figured I could make a stew-like version of the soup, which would have the same flavorings without the broth. After all, lentils are often eaten in a more solid state with rice anyway.

Besides using less water, I also used canned corn instead of frozen and added a bit of leftover celery, diced and fried in oil. I didn't use the full amount of salsa called for in the recipe, but it still tasted great. The second time I made it, I added a couple of fresh tomatoes with the salsa which also worked well. And I'll definitely plan to make it again!