Cynthia Made Me Do It

I was scrolling through my favorite blogs and I was reading Cyn's post about soup. I clicked on the accompanying article that she always includes. I hadn’t even gotten to the "cow heel" part, (that’s probably a good thing…sorry, Cynthia) when I jumped up and just HAD to make soup, any soup, immediately.

I went for this supremely easy lentil soup, which I now have safely tucked in the fridge for any future soup cravings.

Gosh, I wonder what she'll force me to make next week.

Lentil Soup (serves 6-8)

2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
1 onion or 2, chopped
3 skinny carrots or 2 big, chopped
optional: ½ cup ham or bacon, diced
4 garlic cloves, nasty middle stem removed
1 cup lentils
4 cups vegetable stock
1 can diced tomatoes
optional: additional 2 cups vegetable stock

Heat olive oil and salt in large saucepan. Stir in onions, carrots and ham, if using.




Heat until you hear a sizzle. Cover, turn down heat to low and cook until onions are completely soft, at least 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Towards end of softening time, press garlic cloves into pan. Stir in and cook for a few minutes.

Stir in lentils, 4 cups of stock and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, cover and turn down to gentle simmer. Taste liquid for seasoning and add salt and lots of pepper. Cook for 55 minutes. Test lentils, taste for seasoning and continue cooking if necessary.

I serve the first batch, as is. Then before it goes into the fridge, I add up to another 2 cups of stock, because it thickens so much on standing. Or add the extra stock when you reheat it the next day.



For a creamier texture, you can take out a portion and purée it and stir it back in.