There are a few guidelines. Easy. Healthy. Delicious.
One of my favorite winter meals is lentil soup with warm bread and an arugula salad. I always buy canned soup but when I saw this recipe for mushroom and lentil soup in Everyday magazine I decided to make my own.
Easy. Yes. Very few ingredients but I had to make a few substitutions. I could not find red lentils so I substituted green. I also had no fresh thyme so I used dry.
Healthy. Yes. I love finding new meals that are vegetable based.
Delicious. No. The lentils did not get soft enough even after 1 hour of cooking (the recipe said 25 minutes). I bet this would have been better if I let it simmer all day. Instead of trying it again I think I'll do some keep my eyes out for another recipe.
It is such a bummer when you make a mess in the kitchen and have nothing to show for it. They can't all be winners though.
Do you have any good soup recipes to share?
2 comments:
What a bummer! In my experience green lentils do take significantly longer to cook than red, but I'm surprised they weren't done after a whole hour!
When I make soup with brown or green lentils, I like to add a bunch of rainbow chard, and some red wine vinegar at the end.
You asked for good soup recipes and this was the first one that sprang to mind:
http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2008/01/marcella-hazans.html
It's really wonderful. Not quick (I kind of want to argue that soup shouldn't be), but requires very little hands-on time.
Oh Darn! Lentils are one of the things that I want to start doing more of because they are delicious and so good for you. Could you maybe try the same recipe in a crockpot next time? I don't know...
I love making soups and try to at least once a week or so through the Winter months. I don't usually follow a recipe though because I find soups to be so forgiving, so I just use what I have on hand. Often times, I'll buy a whole chicken at the beginning of the week, we'll have roasted chicken the first night for dinner and then I'll take the rest of the bird and put it in a stock pot to make a broth the next day. To the broth, I'll add celery, carrots, etc. and make a chicken soup for the following night's dinner. Toward the end, I'll add orzo and some leafy greens like chard, spinach or kale. It's simple but delicious.
I love sausage and bean soups, ham & bean (ham bones make the best broth!) and veggie & bean or minestrone too...
Post a Comment