Thursday, October 23, 2008

Lentil Soup

My husband has issues with soup for dinner.  I guess he automatically envisions a slosh of pallid broth with perhaps a meager crust of bread, then being sent to bed hungry.  This is unfortunate, as I love soup.  But old demons die hard.  I can get away with chowders or bean/ pea soups, though.  I decided to make Lentil soup because I found a bit of ham in the freezer (from a party ham) and I also had about 1/2 cup of corn from the other night that I could fold into some cornbread batter.  It's not really so much about using leftovers as it is getting an idea from somewhere.

Here's the fixin's for plain old Lentil soup...

First, the celery, carrots, garlic, and onions get "sweated" (that means salted and cooked in a little fat until they soften but don't brown).  Then the ham and some chopped tomato are added...

Then, the lentils, water, and a bay leaf...and the soup simmers for about an hour, until the lentils are tender.  I used half a bag of lentils and got about 6 large serving of soup.

I added a cubed Idaho potato during the last 15 minutes, then pureed a few batches of the soup in the blender to make it smoother.  Sometimes I feel like a soup full of whole beans or pulses is just a little too unappealing.  Call me a prima donna but chewing your way through an entire bowlful can feel like health food penance.  I like a base of silky smooth puree with lots of chunks of vegetables.  One could cook the lentils long enough that they would just disintegrate, but then your other vegetables are mush as well. 

One word of caution....don't fill your blender over 1/3 full with hot liquids.  Ever.  They tend to explode out the top and make a big mess.

I made a small batch of cornbread to serve with the soup.  I love the recipe off the Quaker cornmeal box as a guide....I happened to use buttermilk and I added that leftover cooked corn, too.  I find that half a recipe (for a 9 x 9 pan) bakes up perfectly in a 9 x 5 loaf pan.  It's only about 2 inches thick, and my family can eat the whole thing...no leftovers!

Now the leftover soup is another matter....










1 comment:

j-fro said...

i'm gonna try this one soon.