Marcus Aurelius
07-27-2013, 02:50 PM
Okay, so... I was bored and decided to cook something. Looked through the pantry, which was a little bare today, and saw a 1lb bag of green lentils. Normally, I save those for a 'meatless' meatloaf (recipe some other time) but I was 'in a cooking mood'.
So, rummaged through the fridge and foun d some carrots and onions.
Here's what I did...
1... Grate about 4 cups of carrots (I used a food processor). Peel them first, as the outer skin can discolor and look brown or even black when cooked.
2... 1 large yellow onion (sweet onions like vidalia's don't have enough bite and are more for onion rings, etc.), cut in half lengthwise, then sliced thin
3... in a large pot, saute the onions and carrots, along with about 2 cloves of minced garlic (I used 4, but I REALLY like garlic) in some extra virgin olive oil, until the onions just start to turn translucent (about 5 minutes over medium-high heat).
4... add 1 lb. of green lentils. These are the dried kind, not canned or anything like that. No need to pre-soak or pre-cook them. saute for another minute or two.
5... add 3 quarts of water, and bring to a boil.
6... lower the heat, and simmer at medium heat (not a rolling boil, but just enough of a simmer to see the water bubbling and move things around a little) uncovered for 45 minutes. This is usually long enough for the dried lentils to really soften up and the soup to thicken up some.
6... stir in 3 tbsp. of fresh lemon juice (well, I use the stuff in the big glass bottle from the store, it's a convenience thing), 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, 1 tbsp. salt (I almost always use kosher salt for cooking, but it's up to you), and 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper (more kind of over powers the taste of the carrot).
serve.
So, rummaged through the fridge and foun d some carrots and onions.
Here's what I did...
1... Grate about 4 cups of carrots (I used a food processor). Peel them first, as the outer skin can discolor and look brown or even black when cooked.
2... 1 large yellow onion (sweet onions like vidalia's don't have enough bite and are more for onion rings, etc.), cut in half lengthwise, then sliced thin
3... in a large pot, saute the onions and carrots, along with about 2 cloves of minced garlic (I used 4, but I REALLY like garlic) in some extra virgin olive oil, until the onions just start to turn translucent (about 5 minutes over medium-high heat).
4... add 1 lb. of green lentils. These are the dried kind, not canned or anything like that. No need to pre-soak or pre-cook them. saute for another minute or two.
5... add 3 quarts of water, and bring to a boil.
6... lower the heat, and simmer at medium heat (not a rolling boil, but just enough of a simmer to see the water bubbling and move things around a little) uncovered for 45 minutes. This is usually long enough for the dried lentils to really soften up and the soup to thicken up some.
6... stir in 3 tbsp. of fresh lemon juice (well, I use the stuff in the big glass bottle from the store, it's a convenience thing), 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, 1 tbsp. salt (I almost always use kosher salt for cooking, but it's up to you), and 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper (more kind of over powers the taste of the carrot).
serve.