I’ve been wanting to expand my soup repertoire beyond my usual cream of mushroom, French onion and potato soup standbys. Last year, I added chicken soup. This year, I’m adding Lentil Soup. The recipe is straight from the Goya dry lentils package. I had cut it out when I bought lentils to make I don't remember what. It sounded quick and easy.
My only criticism of the directions is that they don’t specify how long you should simmer the soup. “…until lentils are tender and soup gets thick” is a little vague. A guesstimate would have been nice. A little research on the internet suggested 45 minutes to an hour. I went with an hour.
I chose to make this with ham, not because I happen to have ham in the house but because I couldn’t imagine lentil soup with sausage. And the recipe didn’t specify what kind of sausage. Maybe kielbasa? I also chose chicken over beef bouillon, again, a personal preference. When you make this, go easy on the salt and pepper. The ham provided plenty of salt, I probably didn’t have to add any and I admit to being a little heavy handed with the pepper.
Despite my ineptitude with the seasonings, this soup was delicious and even better the second day.
Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!
½ lb. dry lentils
2 Tbsp. olive oil
¼ lb. smoked ham or sausage
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 chicken or beef bouillon
4 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste
Sort and rinse lentils. In a medium saucepan, heat oil. Stir in ham, onion, celery and garlic until tender. Add lentils and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender and soup gets thick. Add more hot water if necessary.
Serves 4.
Recycle: olive oil bottle
Compost: onion skins, celery leaves, garlic skins
Posts
1 comment:
Great recipe!
Post a Comment