Lentil Soup

Well! We've been super busy lately because we finally got all moved in to our new apartment (when we arrived, we were in a temporary apartment until our real one was ready) - more on that later, but that's what I've been up to all week.

For now - lentil soup. When we decided to move to Scotland, the first thing that I thought was: SOUP WEATHER!! I'm a huge soup fan and I love nothing more than a hot bowl of soup on a cold, rainy day - so I'm definitely in my element here. When we got to Scotland, I was pleasantly surprised to find that lentil soup was on many restaurant's menus because that's one of my all-time favorites. In fact, last year in Italy, I made it so much that Ryan asked me to stop. And we haven't had it since....until now.

What You Need:
Olive oil
1 yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 celery stalks
4 carrots
1 cup of green lentils, rinsed
4 - 6 cups of chicken broth (I usually start with 4 and then add as the lentils soak up the broth)


What You Do:
Chop all the veggies and heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until it begins to soften. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Add the celery and cook for three minutes, and lastly, add the carrot and cook for another five minutes. Stir in the lentils (I always use dried, but you could use canned as well). Add the chicken broth and bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down to low, cover the pot and let it simmer for about an hour, or until the lentils are soft.


This soup is so easy and there are so many different variations that you can do: sometimes I add fennel for a twist, or spinach. You could add potatoes if you like. And, when you're ready to eat it, you can top it with plain yogurt because lentils love yogurt. Ryan prefers his with goat cheese, and I always throw some chopped parsley on top.

PS - A few Christmases ago, my cousin gave me this cookbook which I am going to seriously tackle this fall/winter....


....and three more soups from Italy.