Browsing Tag

lentil soup

Comfort Food

20 Minute Lentil Heaven

January 26, 2018

These days, it’s a challenge to find a dish you can serve to everyone, from your manliest meat-eater to your weight-watcher, the animal-conscious vegan or even a diabetic. Here’s a fast and tasty way to provide bowl full of heavily health in only 20 minutes that’s good enough and healthy enough for almost any diet!

Red Lentils are low in fat, loaded with protein and fiber, and chock full of heart-healthy folate and manganese. They are also pretty to look at, which makes them festive enough for company. The best part? They are extremely easy to prepare because, unlike green or brown lentils, red lentils are very quick cooking, i.e., no soaking,  no waiting.

With it’s fresh splash of lemon and bright mint, this recipe will bring a bit of the Mediterranean to your soup bowl and it will keep you feeling full for hours.

EASY RED LENTIL SOUP

In a small soup pot, boil 2 cups of salted water and add to it:

  • 1 Cup red lentils
  • 1 large, or 2 small, minced garlic teeth
  • 1 Tsp. dried, flaked onion

Simmer about 15 minutes, until lentils are soft. Now add:

  • 1 Can “no salt” diced tomatoes. Your choice, but I prefer to add & control my own salt.
  • 1 Tsp. fresh Italian flat parsley, chopped
  • 1 Tsp. fresh oregano, chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
  • 2 Tsp. fresh or jarred lemon juice. Use more or less, to taste.

Simmer soup about 5 more minutes. Add salt to taste and serve.

Notes:  Garnish with fresh Mint or Parsley. Use fresh tomatoes, if you like. Add carrots if that appeals to you.  I did not need to use any type of flavor “cute” or powder as the lentils, garlic, salt I used and fresh herbs created a lot of flavor!

Comfort Food

Everything’s Better with Bacon

March 29, 2016

Let’s face it. Most things really are better with bacon.

The key to getting a lot of flavor into this soup is the bacon, and also using either a good, home  made stock, a high-quality store bought stock, or a combination of the two. No hard, dried little flavor cubes!

Here is how I make my truly mouth-watering, Lentil Soup.

FIRST

Boil 1 cup of dried, quick cooking lentils in about twic 2-1/2 times as much liquid.
Add 2 small cloves garlic, minced.
(If you need or want more liquid, go ahead. I just add more if I think I need it.)

For liquid/broth, I use a combination of good quality beef stock and my own, delicious, super healthy bone broth, if I have some.
My lentils take about 20-25 minutes to really soften up so you ca  get these bubbling away on the stove top while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

WHILE YOUR LENTILS COOK…

Peel and dice a medium potato (I used red but removed the peel). You can set these to boil about 15 minutes OR you can toss them in to boil with the lentils for the last 15 minutes of lentil cooking.  Peeled and diced potatoes will not require that much time to soften and you don’t want them too mushy.

NEXT…

In a frying pan, sauté 6 strips of bacon, cut up (I use scissors leaving all the fat right in the pan as the bacon sizzles away.

  • Slice 2 small or 1 medium carrot
  • Dice 1 stick celery
  • Chop 1/4 cup of onion

By now, your bacon is nearly done so toss the carrot, celery and onion into the bacon pan and cook for about 5 minutes.

FINISHING UP

When the lentils are soft and the potatoes are cooked (i.e., easily stabbed with a fork), add the bacon and vegetable mixture and every drop of bacon fat.  Salt and pepper to taste.

TIPS:  For a heartier meal, add chunks of  sauteed ham or bratwurst. You can also add some of the tender celery leaves, chopped, for additional flavor.

The better your broth, the more flavorful your soup will be. I recommend reading up on the health benefits of your grandma’s good, old fashioned bone broth. Real bone stock imakes a pivotal difference not only on how flavorful your soup will be, but how healthy!