Skip to content

This week’s pot of soup.

1.26.12

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

This is the third week in a row that I’ve made a large pot of some sort of lentil soup for weekday lunches. The first two weeks were a hodge-podge pot of lentil soup, where I threw in whatever veggies were in the fridge and added some spices. Usually something Indian, like mustard seed and curry powder, or chili-like.

Edible, but nothing to blog about.

I love Laura’s blog The First Mess, and she posted a recipe last week that was of her favorite lentil soup. I thought, I’ve got to make it this weekend.

I went right by the recipe (Laura went to culinary school and gives the best instructions AND takes the most beautiful food photos), except added a few turnips from my CSA.

I liked that this recipe used:

1. A lot of garlic. I hate chopping garlic, but love it in most meals.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

2. New herbs. I’ve never made anything with thyme and tarragon. Laura said it gives off a lemony flavor, which it totally did.

3. French lentils. These lentils hold their shape really well when cooked. I also like red lentils, but they cook down and almost become mushy, which wouldn’t work out so well in this soup. (I don’t like the word ‘mushy’– it sounds so inedible – but that’s really what they do, only in a delicious way.)

Rinse the lentils well, then add them to the cooked vegetables along with vegetable stock and diced tomatoes. Cover and simmer. The soup is done in about 25-30 minutes.

Dinner on Sunday night and lunch for the week. Simple, healthy yet delicious, and very cost friendly. Went amazingly well with my crusty loaf of CSA bread.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

It felt very French, but in an earthy, not fussy way. I was reminded of how people dressed when I was in Paris this summer. They were striking, not because they were flashy, but because everything fit well and looked effortlessly put together. This soup has those same principles. It was a much more sophisticated soup than I’ve been making, which I liked.

Before the snow melted this week.

1.26.12

DSC_4865

DSC_4868

DSC_4881

DSC_4888

DSC_4890

DSC_4867

DSC_4874

DSC_4885

DSC_4895

DSC_4893

More snowshoeing pics from Wiessner Woods this weekend.

We have no snow on the ground in Burlington right now. Most of it melted away in Monday night’s rain. Umm, so that’s weird for January. Even last weekend, we had to go up pretty high just to do some snowshoeing in Stowe.  And usually I’m all about warmer temps, but there’s something about this situation that feels strange.

Plus, once I got out in the snow it was so lovely. Breath-taking. Hopefully, I’ll get out a few more times this winter. Dare I say this…please snow.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 673 other followers