Lots of Lentils

I've eaten a lot of different kinds of food in my life, by never had lentils.  Now, since my vegan in the house doesn't eat anything from an animal, I have to improvise when making food.   So I chose lentils, a great source of fiber and protein, to make Lentil Soup.  I had to figure out how to make it, played around with a few ingredients and VOILA!  I made a delicious easy soup.

This soup is very easy to make, it uses inexpensive ingredients, and the house smells so good while it's cooking.  Serve it with a crusty loaf of Italian bread or whole grain bread, to sop up all those tasty juices, or a few toasted croutons on top, and don't forget the grated cheese if you like.

Some of my ingredients, clean up the celery and peel the carrots.

 Mince the garlic, slice the celery and dice the carrots. Add it all to your Dutch oven or soup pot.

 Add salt, pepper and cumin, stir it all up.....

 .....and saute veggies until somewhat tender.  Then add the lentils and cook for a few minutes.

 I always use stock in my soups, instead of broth.  It costs a few pennies more, but worth it in flavor.
  Add a few bay leaves.....

 .....and stir them in.

Toss in a few sprigs of fresh thyme, you can throw stems and all in, just remove the stems and bay leaves before serving.

 The soup is lookin' good and the aroma is even better.

I use fresh spinach when I have it, I snip off the long stems, toss it in.....

 ......stir and the heat does the rest.

Soup's ready!

Homemade Vegan Lentil Soup

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 celery stalks with leaves, sliced

4 carrots, peeled and diced

1/2 large sweet onion, diced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups dried lentils

2 - 32 oz boxes vegetable stock

3 bay leaves

3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried

2 cups fresh spinach or 1 box thawed of frozen spinach wrung dry

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot on medium - high heat. Add the garlic, celery, carrots, onion, cumin salt and pepper.  Stir together and saute until the veggies are tender and slightly browned. Add the lentils, stir them in and cook for 3 minutes, stirring as they are cooking.  Stir in the stock, bay leaves and thyme.  Reduce heat to medium and let the soup cook for 35 - 45 minutes.  In the last 20 minutes add the spinach and let it cook down.  You may or may not need to add water as the lentils expand and thicken the soup.  If you do add water be careful, add a little at a time you don't want to water down the flavor. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs before serving.

Serve with a crusty Italian bread, whole grain bread or seasoned croutons on top.  Makes 6 -8 servings.

Roasted Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup

Another frigid day here in the eastern part of the country, it's only 3 degrees, YIKES!  I think this is great homemade soup weather, no matter how you slice it.  Today I gave mushroom soup a try, took some basic ingredients and put a twist on them to make this delicious Roasted Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup.  Recipe below.
  To print recipe, click, highlight and print.

Some basics and a few things to turn up the volume of the soup a little bit!  It's the Sherry baby!

Melt the cup of butter, this makes the broth rich tasting.

Dice the onion, mince the garlic and cook them both in the butter.

Now I got a little crazy and decided to roast the mushrooms, portobellos are meaty so it's easy to do.  Cut up any really big mushrooms, season them with salt and pepper, drizzle on a little olive oil and toss together. Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

Onions and garlic are tender, throw in some thyme, bay leaf and a little nutmeg, yes that's right just a little.  I also made my roux to thicken the soup. I scooped 3/4 cup of flour into a bowl then ladled just enough of the butter from the pot into the flour, to mix it into a paste.  

Toss back into the pot and whisk it into the remaining butter mixture.

It will become creamy like this with no lumps.

Add the stock, sherry and cream, and using an immersion (stick) blender, or a blender (but be sure to run hot water in the blender before putting anything hot into it so it doesn't shatter!)  Blend all together, so the broth is smooth.

When the mushrooms are done I strain them in a colander so the juice doesn't thin the soup.  Toss about 2/3 of them in the pot and reserve the rest.

Take that immersion blender again and smooth out some of those mushrooms.  When you are done, toss the remaining mushrooms in and leave them whole. 

Delicious, flavorful, creamy and rich Portobello Mushroom Soup.

Roasted Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

2 sticks of butter

1/2 large sweet onion, diced

3 big cloves garlic, minced

5 sprigs of fresh thyme, stripped

2 bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 cup flour

3 lbs Sliced Baby Bella Portobello Mushrooms (3 - 16 oz containers)

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 - 32 oz containers vegetable stock

1/3 cup dry sherry, leave it out if you don't like it

1 - 32 oz container of heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt the two sticks of butter.  Add the onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaves and nutmeg.  Cook until tender but not brown.

In the meantime, spread the mushrooms out on a large baking sheet and season with salt and pepper, toss with the olive oil.  Roast in oven for 20 - 25 minutes until browned. Remove from oven and drain in a colander to drain all the juices.

Add the flour to a medium bowl and ladle some of the butter mixture from the soup pot into the bowl.  Mix enough into the flour to make a roux.  Add back into the soup pot and whisk it into the remaining butter until there are no lumps and it becomes smooth.

Take out the bay leaves and discard.  Add  vegetable stock, sherry and cream to the pot and stir until all is combined.  With an immersion blender or blender, blend until the broth is smooth.  Bring to a simmer over medium high heat.  You will have to continue stirring the soup so it does not stick. When the soup boils, reduce heat to a low simmer for 40-45 minutes, uncovered, stir it occasionally. 

Add 2/3 of the roasted mushrooms to the pot and with the immersion blender, chop them up. Toss in the remaining mushrooms, but leave them whole.  Cook for another 30 minutes, or until the soup thickens.

Makes about 12 servings.

Homemade Tomato Basil Soup

Want to warm up fast?  Eat some homemade soup.  I could eat soup everyday and never get tired of it.  It's easy to make, warms you up from your head to your toes and fills you up.  Add a side of crusty bread to soup and you have a great healthy meal.  I have a lot of favorite soups, Tomato being one of them.  Served up with just bread or a grilled cheese sandwich it's a comfort food for me.  I made this Tomato soup yesterday, it was rich, savory, fast and easy.  Recipe below.

I used crushed tomatoes and vegetable stock, you could also use chicken stock.  Minced some garlic and diced an onion.

 Sauteed the garlic and onion in olive oil and then added the rest of the ingredients.

Toss in some fresh basil, stir it all up, and let it cook for 2 1/2 hours.

 Here comes the fun part.  I used an emulsion blender (stick blender) right in the pot to give the soup a really smooth consistency, it also thickens the soup.

 Tasty, flavorful Tomato soup. I added some croutons on top.  You can also add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, and dinner is served. Another great way to serve this soup is with a grilled cheese sandwich or grilled cheese croutons.  All you have to do is make a grilled cheese sandwich, cut it into small, bite size pieces and sprinkle them on top of the soup, can you say Y-U-M-M-Y.

Homemade Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, diced

6 large cloves of garlic, minced

2 - 32 oz. boxes of vegetable stock (or chicken stock)

4 - 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes

8 - 10 fresh basil leaves, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons of kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons of black pepper
2 tablespoons of sugar (cuts down the acid in the soup)

Croutons

Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook just until tender, about 15 minutes.  Add the garlic, and cook for about a minute.  Stir in the stock, tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper and sugar.  Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat to medium low. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 1/2 hours (see note). Serve with croutons and Parmesan cheese.

NOTE:  After cooking the soup for about 2 hours, I used an emulsion blender to make it smoother and thicker.  If you don't have one, you don't really need it for this soup.  PLEASE SAFETY FIRST - You could also use a blender, but be sure to cool the soup first before putting it in the blender, the heat will shatter your pitcher whether it is glass or plastic! (you will then have to reheat the soup before serving).  If you do have an emulsion blender, read instructions carefully before using it in the pot of soup. After using the blender continue to cook for the last half hour so everything blends together.