Smooth and Satisfying Lentil Soup
This is a completely vegetarian dish with no eggs or dairy products, yet it has a hearty and satisfying taste and texture. The secret is the lentils themselves which are an excellent source of protein and have a rich flavor.
When I was little my grandmother would make this dish for my grandfather and I in the winter time. We had it with toasted bread and a squeeze of lime to bring out the flavor. It was a complete supper and left us sleepy and satisfied.
This dish is also a great way to use up your not so new vegetables. I use the day old tomatoes, slightly wilted celery, yesterday's cut-up onion, etc. The quantities of ingredients don't need to be exact, so use what you have. I give the quantities that work for me.
I used a crock pot to cook my soup, but you can certainly cook it on low heat on top of the stove.
This recipe makes enough to serve 4 people as a meal, or 6-8 people as a starter dish.
- 1 Cup Red Lentils
- 1-2 Large tomatoes or 1 1/2 cups of cherry tomatoes, or a combination. Diced.
- 1 stalk of celery, sliced. Use the leaves too, they add flavor.
- 1 carrot peeled and sliced.
- 1-2 onions, chopped. I used a mixture of red and white onions because I had some left over from another meal.
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely sliced.
- a handful of fresh parsley, and/or cilantro. I love both, but some people prefer one over the other.
- 2 teaspoons sea salt.
- 3 cups of water.
- 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns. Use less or omit if you don't want it spicy.
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin.
- 1 pinch ground coriander.
Instructions
- Rinse the lentils and place in a crock pot.
- Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix.
- Add the spices and the water, stir thoroughly.
- Cover the crock pot and set on medium or high heat . If you are using a stove, use low heat (electric setting 3).
- I like to cover the crock pot with a glass bowl over the cover to increase the insulation. This will make it cook slightly hotter.
- Cook for about 5-6 hours, or until all the vegetables are tender.
- Puree with a hand blender, or pour into a blender and puree.
- If using a hand blender, you may get tomato skins caught in your blender. This is not a problem, but you may want to clean them off periodically as it will make blending faster. I usually just dump the peels back into the soup and chop them up.
- After you are done blending, stir and taste the soup for final spice adjustments.
- Keep the soup on low heat for another 5 minutes to rest.
- Serve with toasted garlic bread, limes, and throw a pinch of chopped parsley on each serving for extra panache.
