Oh, So You Want the Recipe for Lentil Soup!

Ok, here it is. Very cheap soup to make for as nutritious as it is. Very yummy for a cold winter night too. Delicious with homemade wheat bread, or go ahead and cheat and get a loaf of Italian bread from the bakery. LoL.

Lentil Soup

one bag lentils (12 oz. or 1#, red or brown doesn't matter)

water

3-4 cloves garlic

one bay leaf

scrap meat of the hammy variety (smoked sausage will do, as will ham, cooked crumbled bacon, turkey smoked sausage, or even turkey. any ol' thing)

a couple carrots, shredded

one chopped onion

salt and pepper to taste

a can (14-16 oz.) of chopped tomatoes if you want them in there

Additionally, you will need:

large soup pot

colander

Start this early in the day or the night before. Put the Lentils in the colander and rinse them. Dump them in the soup pot with enough water to cover them twice their original depth and cook them a little while. Half hour is fine. Turn them off and let them sit a while, a couple hours is fine for this too. Or put them in the fridge overnight and finish cooking them tomorrow after work.

After the lentils have set a while and are looking plump and comfortable, turn the heat back on under them. Throw a couple cloves of crushed garlic in the pot, along with a bay leaf, the shredded carrot, and meat of some sort. Add a little water if the soup is too thick to stir.

Saute the onion in a skillet until it is waxy looking, then add it to the pot of lentils. Cook the stew a little while (maybe half an hour) until it is hot through and rather thick. Just before serving add salt (about 2 teaspoons should be enough), pepper, and chopped canned tomatoes if you want them.

Enjoy!