21 February 2006

Earthy Lentil Soup

Yep, it's from Vive le Vegan. Thanks Dreena for creating yet another fabulous recipe, and I love the blackstrap molasses in here for a few reasons: 1, Good source of iron, especially since I used 2.5 teaspoons of it. 2, the molasses made this even earthier. 3, The molasses made this soup browner and tasty and I would have never thought of using this in it myself, so I am super-happy.

The recipe is called Earthy Lentil Soup and it has the perfect name. I served this with whole grain Vegan Sprouted Power Bread (tons of awesome inside) and it was a great dinner. It was a simple, one-pot meal and the only thing I would do different next time is chop the veggies in a food processor, because I sliced and diced all by hand and that was fine, but thanks to electricity and technology (and CuisinArt) this could save me about 30 minutes of prep-work. Other than that, I threw a bunch of great ingredients in, covered it, waited an hour, and finally dug into this wonderful soup.

I love that Dreena has included fresh lemon juice to be sqeezed before serving, and the lemon was not only garnish, I ended up leaving it in there the whole time because the lemon adds a wonderful flare to the soup. I will always eat lentil soup with lemon from now on.

Please feel free to share and comment on any ingredients, recipes or special stuff that you like with or in lentil soup. I am always wanting to make more brown lentil dishes, since I use the red ones so much. Red ones are faster, anyway. What I really want to make is a lentil loaf, but I will need to borrow someone's oven for that.

22 comments:

Susan Voisin said...

Your photos look fabulous! I've got the book so now I'm going to have to try the soup.

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Oh that looks divine. I've never made lentil soup, but have been planning to the past couple weeks - I have both dried green and a can of white lentils I want to use up..
I look forward to reading responses on ideas for lentil soup~

Flo @ Yielded Heart said...

I'm still waiting for my copy, but will also try it! I made Three Bean Chili last night and it sure hit the spot.
-kaivegan

Julie said...

I agree-this soup is yummy! I have a ton in my freezer for last minute meals.

Eat Peace Please said...

Jess... what are white lentils? I have only seen red (which end up turning whitish) and green/brown. Humph, you have stumped me.

Julie... I need to do the same.

Me... Plus, the vitamin C from the lemon helps absorb the iron from the parsley, lentils and molasses.

Veggie Mom... I haven't put this book down in weeks! It really is great and I love how Dreena "explains" each step.

Susan... your lentil soup looks wonderful as well!

To everyone... thanks for all the comments. I appreciate it and if you haven't commented yet... go for it.

Harmonia said...

Lentils, Lentils! Everywhere!

I will have to see if Running2K's can write me a code for our weekly Grocery List Meme...any ideas what we could CALL it? And which day should we do it on? There are a few things in blogworld on Monday and Thursday so far...what about Tuesday or Wednesday? If either of those should we do a play on words somehow?

Everyday Superhero said...

The Earthy Lentil Soup is my fave of all the lentil soups I have EVER tasted. Just last week I wrote about it in my blog. I love that it's packed with great veggies but then there's some surprising ingredients such as molasses and lemon juice.

I can't put Dreena's book down. The recipes are delicious and so easy to put together.

By the way, what's wrong with your oven?

Eat Peace Please said...

Hi Sweet Pea. I can't put her book down either, and I have the Everyday Vegan as well. I go back and forth!

I don't think (think being the key-word) there is anything wrong with my oven. It's really just something being wrong with me! I had an incident (see the Coffeecake listing) and my oven set fire and I am terrified of fires and have attempted to clean it thoroughly 3 times and I tried making muffins about a month ago and towards the end it was smoking again. I guess it's just a phase, but I need a firefighter or someone over here to make me feel better. I have been making raw and stovetop meals only, although I am missing my oven more and more, considering I love to cook. It's been about 2 months now.

Eat Peace Please said...

Hi Harmonia. It doesn't matter about the day (and I really don't understand the code business) but I do my shopping mostly on Sundays but also here and there throughout the week. It varies. I would have to have my own info down and then just submit it on the day you would want. Every week I am up to different things in the kitchen so it will totally vary. You pick the day, I don't care which one. I just hope I can follow and not be as random as I am!

I'm thinking of a name...

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Hmm they are a can of organic white (I've seen white also called pearl lentils online) I picked up from Wild Oats. And have no idea what to do with...I haven't seen lentil soup that calls for them either. I was planning on just dumping them into an eclectic soup anyhow : )

Harmonia said...

WEDNESDAY! Running2k's came up with a great name! Midweek Munchies!

The code is up and here is what I am tagging veggies with:

Come check out the new Meme I started! It’s the Midweek Munchies Post with a code to (hopefully) make it easier. I would love for you to help get this thing started and help spread the word! I think it will be fun!!!
Harmonia
http://harmonia.blogsome.com

Eat Peace Please said...

Harmonia... Wednesday's are great. I'll just have to write down and remember what I buy during the week. I don't know this code business nor do I see one you posted. What do I need to do with this code stuff?

Jess... I'd make lentil patties!

Julie... Yep, GS is awesome, as I go many times a week (just to chat, get a snack or look around), I don't do my regular shopping there.

e-rex the vegan dinosaur said...

hi! i just found your blog on here. very fun, as i do love my vegan food. it reminds me of what my blog would be like if i had a camera to take pics of everything! keep up the good work, i'll be checking here often. the lentil soup looks great!

Eat Peace Please said...

Thanks Zoracky!

High Power Rocketry said...

Looks good! I once got a huge bag of soup mix (beans spices etc) and figured it wouldnt make THAT much soup. I mean how much soup does 3 lbs of beans make? Well lets just say I ate it two meals a day for a week and still had some left over...


R2K

Eat Peace Please said...

Yep Alex. A ton of lentils. I have enough leftovers for a long while, but I froze them so I don't have to do what you did.

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

lentil patties...thanks!

Anonymous said...

hi... have visited your site before, but this is my first time leaving a comment. your food looks wonderful and i really enjoy all your comments. lentil soup is one of my favorites... will have to try it with lemon.

Eat Peace Please said...

Wow, this soup's a hit!!! Thanks everyone for the great comments. And you, anonymous, for sure try the lemon. It changes everything! And please do comment again!

Harmonia said...

With the code just copy and paste in your entry. Where it says HERE WHAT NAME IS CONTRIBUTING - replace with your name and the next list where it says write your list here or something to that effect replace that with your list. Let me know if that works for you.
I usually shop on weekends too so it could be your upcoming list or your last list...what ever you wish!

Eat Peace Please said...

Ok, Harmonia, I'll try...

Anonymous said...

I love lentils as well, but I don't always like to cook on a stove top. That's why I use my rice cooker for a lot of things. If you want lentils that are "fluffy" but still moist, combine one cup of lentils with 3 1/4 cups of water, add seasonins, and set your rice cooker. It takes a bit longer than stove top, but I don't have to worry about my lentils burning on the bottom. Then I usually use the lentils in patties or such.