Green Lentil Soup

My friends mom probably makes the best lentil soup I ever had. Maybe because I know it was made from a sweet Italian woman and she's the type to never let you go hungry. She took a trip to Italy for a month so I had to suffice on recreating my own lentil soup. She makes her's with her Italian style and vegetarian take on it but i recreated my own with my little spin on it that almost compares.

Makes about 6-8 servings

Ingredients: 2 teaspoons of olive oil or butter or mix of both 16 oz bag or 2 cups of green lentils 1/3 cup of diced celery 1/3 cup of diced carrot 1/3 cup of diced white onion (yellow works too) 1/2 teaspoon of thyme or 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon of cumin 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne (or more) 1 bay leaf 1 quart of vegetable broth (chicken broth works well too) Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Get together your veggies and dice them. Heat up olive oil in a pot to medium heat, cook the carrot, celery and onion all at once, add salt, cook for about 7-10 minutes.

You want to Get some slight color on them, some brown around the edges is perfect. Add the thyme while still having your veggies sizzling. I usually just add the whole sprigs and pick out the stems later.

Add the cumin cayenne and black pepper. Toast for additional 30 seconds.

Add your lentils in and add in the vegetable stock. Add enough so it comes up at least an inch above your lentils and veggies. Add the bay leaf in now. Raise the heat to high, bring to a simmer, and reduce the heat to low maintaining a gentle simmer.

The lentils could take up to an hour but keep an eye on it every 10 minutes or so to check if your soup needs a little more liquid and to give it a stir once in a while. I like the consistency of the soup to be thick but not overly thick. I try to at least keep the broth to just about cover the lentils The whole time. If you run out of broth, water will work just fine too.

After 30 minutes, check if the tenderness of the lentils and continue simmering till tender. You can also take out the bay leaf and the sprigs of thyme at this point. Your lentils could be done around the 45 minute mark. Check for tenderness once again and adjust your seasoning. Depending on the broth you might need salt and some pepper. As for the consistency of your soup. If you would like it go a little more on the thick side, smash some lentils onto the side of the pot and continue simmering for 5-10 minutes.

Serve in some hot bowls with some parsley to garnish on top and enjoy.q

bon appetit