Recipe: Garlicky Lentil Soup

Recipe Source: Sheasby, Anne.  400 Soups.  Anness Publishing, London, 2008 p. 226

So, my spouse has presented me with two challenges recently.  Well, I suppose that I presented one of them to myself, although it must be said he heavily encouraged me.  That particular challenge relates to sports, more specifically the Major League Baseball Playoffs.  As anyone who knows us (or reads this blog frequently) knows, we are huge baseball fans.  We're Yankee fans first, but we're more than willing to watch any game that happens to be on.  During the playoffs, you've got the four best teams in each division (eight teams, for those of you unfamiliar with major league baseball in the US) duking it out until one emerges victorious.  That's great stuff, and we're largely glued to games for the duration.  Unfortunately, I tend to be somewhat reluctant to leave the game to do pesky mundane tasks like cook or wash dishes.  After we went an entire week eating nothing but take-away, I decided that for the next week I was going to make a bunch of dishes that could be made ahead of time and reheated in minimum time.  The Garlicky Lentil Soup was one of them. 

The second challenge was more directly issued by my husband.  There is a cabinet to the right of our stove.  I call it the Legume Cabinet.  Spouse calls it the Barbeque Cabinet.  At the moment, there is no room for barbeque equipment in that cabinet because it is literally overflowing with legumes.  In deference to his sensibilities (why can't the stupid barbeque equipment live in the garage like everything else?) I'm trying to cook down the contents of the Legume Cabinet.  This will likely take some time, as I have no room to freeze anything in my freezer and I keep forgetting to soak anything the night before. 

Anyway, the monthly blogging event, My Legume Love Affair (started by Susan of The Well-Seasoned   Cook) should be seeing a few entries as a result of this cookdown attempt.  This month's hostess is Cook Sister!, which is always an enjoyable blog to visit.  I'm sending this tasty soup over to her for the October edition of the event.  It was an incredibly easy easy soup to make, and quite economical if I do say so myself.  I'm not usually a fan of carrots, but the addition of red wine vinegar offsets any excessive sweetness very nicely.

Garlicky Lentil Soup (makes 8 cups; approx. $0.27/cup)

1 cup red lentils

1 red onion, finely chopped

8 garlic cloves, crushed

1 carrot, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 bay leaves (my father in law grows the best I've ever used!)

6 1/4 cups water

1 large pinch dried oregano

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Equipment:

• Large saucepan with lid

1. Put all ingredients up to the oregano into the pot and bring to a boil.
2. Lower the heat and simmer 1 1/2 hours. 
3. Add the oregano, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Remove from heat and either serve or store. 

Comments

[Anna]

Do you have a pressure cooker? If so you don't have to soak overnight. We use it alot in Indian cooking. Ok, I don't b/c I am a wuss and scared of the things...but if you aren't they are really wonders! :)

[Susan]

LOL! As you can imagine, my cupboard is full of beans, too. As much as I cook often with them, I fear I will never free up space.

Great, simple soup. Eight cloves garlic and fresh bay leaves: I like the sound of that.