Laudable Lentil Soup

I have been living off lentils, macaroni and cheese, beer bread, and split peas for the last two weeks, so as you can imagine, it's a damn good thing that I've got an awesomely easy recipe for lentil soup! Yes, the recipe is better than the one you've been using for years. How do I know? OH... I KNOW.

So the thing about lentils is that they're extremely versatile. You can use them to make Indian cuisine, veggie burgers, soup, salad, and things that I don't even know about yet! Hell, in a few years, I bet the next big thing will be lentil milk. Gross, but I may actually be on to something. Did you hear that? It's the sound of my bank account exploding because of my brilliant money-making venture! Anyway, because soup is cheap and low in calories if you do it right, my dear, I am a soup girl. I could seriously eat soup all day, every day, for the rest of my life, provided you slip me chocolate cupcake every now and again.

So here it is: My lentil soup recipe that doesn't call for anything weird. Cross my heart.

Ingredients:
8 cups chicken stock
2 cups uncooked lentils
1/2 tsp thyme (I didn't have thyme the second time I made it, so I used sage, and it turned out just fine)
1/2 tsp pepper
4 carrots, diced
2 onions, chopped
2 tsp oil for sauteing
4 bay leaves
salt to taste

Method:
1. In a large stock pot, saute your onions in 2 tsp oil. I don't generally do this because I prefer to keep fat out of my soup. However, sauteing the onions makes them sweet, which nicely complements the salty stock. So this time, branch out and saute those suckers until they're as transparent as a trampy top.

2. After your onions have become a bit clear, throw in everything else. Be reckless; dump everything in with no rhyme or reason. I am in no position to judge.

3. Simmer on medium for about 45 minutes or until your lentils are nice and soft.

4. Tell your husband to call his mother to tell her that your cooking is better than hers. There's no sense in keeping your talents a secret.



Pin It