Classic Lentil Soup Recipe

Lentil Soup, salad, Sweet Potato Rolls with Lilikoi Jelly

A few days ago my son sent me a vegetarian recipe for lentil soup. He took it from a cookbook that I would love to own: How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. We frequently eat meatless meals so I was happy to try this recipe.  The resulting soup was good, but in my opinion, not good enough, so I tinkered with it (although after the tinkering it was no longer vegetarian). I finally ended up with a soup that had a deeper background flavor and more oomph. Try the original recipe and if you think it needs more something then try the changes I've listed at the bottom of the page.

Classic Lentil Soup

1 cup dried lentils, washed and picked over

1 bay leaf

Several sprigs fresh thyme or a few pinches dried

1 carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 celery stalk, cut into 1/2-inch dice

6 cups vegetable stock or water, or more as needed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1) Put the lentils, bay leaf, thyme, carrot, celery, and stock in a deep skillet or medium saucepan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; turn the heat down to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring, until it softens, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and stir, then cook for 1 minute more and turn off the heat.

3) When the lentils are tender, fish out the bay leaf and thyme sprigs and stir the onion mixture into the soup.  Add more stock if the soup is too thick, then taste, adjust the seasoning and serve.

Here's what I changed: 

I increased the dried thyme to 1 teaspoon

I used water and added 2 cubes of cilantro bouillon (since I didn't have vegetable stock on hand)

I added 1 teaspoon of Kaiulani Spices Hawaiian Cajun seasoning for zip

I added 1/4 teapoon of Kaiulani Spices Kona Coffee seasoning for background depth
I added 1/2 cup leftover Portuguese sausage, diced (cooked from breakfast)