Lentils

Phil and Sarah

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The recipe (kinda)

The Modifications:

1. If i have the foresight I soak the lentils in water (just barely cover them for a 2-3 hours first)

2. Sub the water in the recipe for vegetable or meat stock

3. I make the whole process longer (works great in the crock pot on low). about two hours with just the lentils and water/stock

4. Then another two hours on as low as I can go once I had the vegetable (no tomatoes).

5. I also throw in other vegetable I have lying around sometimes.  broccoli? peppers? zuccini?  stuff….

6. I totally skip the heating the tomatoes step.  What I do is about half an hour before I want to eat, I dice the tomatoes up and toss them in.  still lowest heat possible for another half hour.

7. also at this point I add some brown sugar or molasses to taste, olive oil to taste, balsamic vinegar to taste and lemon to taste.  These last four ingredients are really the crucial part – not in the recipe, but MAKE the meal.  feel it out.  I really have no idea how much I use, i just taste till it’s right.

8. I also often top it with more fresh diced tomatoes, sour cream, balsamic vinegar, and diced cilantro.

9. if you eat meat and you put pork in it (like bacon) it will be better.  If the meat is already cooked, I’d add it about an hour before serving. if it’s not, add it with the vegetables.

Except I didn’t do all of that this time…

Soaking…

Phase 2…

The game changers.

The Final Sprint!

B. A. M. Yes, that IS CABBAGE you see in there.

Served with… Cause wine goes great with lentils.

Galen and Chloe

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Complete Meal

The bread stole the culinary show. It was my first loaf ever and so it took most of my time and focus. The lentils practically prepared themselves. The soup was pretty good, we added olive oil, balsalmic, tomato, lemon and a lemon zest/ pepper/ garlic/ olive oil garnish to suit individual tastes.

The great thing about the lentils meal was they stored really well and we were able to eat through them all week. It was a great meal that was easy to pack for the day.

Next time, we would definitely add more tomatoes and a bigger ratio of veggies:lentils.

 

Albin and Jocie

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The Taste Test…

Lentil Soup!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Albin and I are going to have to work on our food photography. The other pictures didn’t turn out so great.

But the soup! The soup was delicious! You are right Sarah — the sweet and sour ingredients definitely made this meal taste different  than any other lentil soup we’ve had.  We made one big modification: instead of using molasses, we cooked with Vermont maple syrup.

We added a variety of vegetables — the mushrooms made this dish taste extra “earthy”. We were also lucky to be able to use oregano, thyme, and purple tomatoes that were grown in Albin’s mom’s garden this summer/fall.

We both agreed that next time we make this meal we would like to add chopped pieces of thick-cut, smoked ham.

 

 

 

PORTFOLIO PAGE PHOTO CREDITS/LICENSE: Courtesy of Amelia Crook, Creative Commons