Lentil Soup for the Soul
It’s that time of year when we need to stop, take a deep breath and…eat something healthy. Or maybe it’s just me? Please tell me that I’m not alone with my eyes wide open in the middle of the night; sneaking down the stairs to make another list, place one more Amazon Prime order or wrap a gift that needs to be delivered to one of the very special people in our lives.
It’s all good stuff, that’s for sure. But with the amount of preparation that goes into making the holidays “perfect” it’s the everyday that seems to suffer. Meals get thrown together as opposed to thoughtfully planned. All those new recipes that I usually can’t wait to try sit in stacks on my desk, clog my computer in-box and float around the Pinterest universe.
Old reliables to the rescue! The recipes that you know where to find and have never let you down. The ones that you can make with your eyes closed and know exactly how they will taste before the first bite. This Lentil Soup is as reliable as they come. It was the first soup that I cooked in my tiny New York City galley kitchen and I loved it so much that I made it more times that I can recount. I still haven’t tired of the recipe and as hard as I’ve tried to find a lentil soup that beats it, there have been none that come close.
So now I will encourage you to try a new recipe even though I can’t muster up the energy to do the same. Hypocritical, but it will make you feel good to eat something healthy between all those cheese platters and glazed sugar cookies. But if you can’t find the time over the next couple of weeks no one will understand more than me. Just bookmark this recipe or better yet–pin it to Pinterest–and revisit with your January resolutions. Happy holidays!
Lentil Soup
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 large onions, chopped (about 4 cups)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 6 ribs celery, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 3 carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 5 c chicken or vegetable broth
- 5 c water
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 Tbls brown sugar
- 2 Tbls ketchup
- 1 28-oz can of tomatoes, coarsely chopped (about 3 cups)
- 1 16-oz bag lentils
- 1/2 c dry sherry
- In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over moderate heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally until soft. Add garlic, celery and carrots and cook vegetables, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes or until softened. Add curry, cumin, salt, pepper, thyme, broth, water, bay leaves, brown sugar, ketchup, tomatoes, lentils and sherry. Simmer soup for 2 hours or until lentils are tender. Discard bay leaves. Enjoy.