Thursday, January 15, 2009

Lentil Soup (the non-Crock Pot version)

I have finished the first week back to school and I have come to the conclusion that although I think I usually plan things pretty well, I need to plan better. Apparently, substitute teaching all day and then driving an hour and taking graduate school courses at night leaves very little time for much else. Like making dinner. Or eating it. I think basically this week I lived off of this bread. (Which will be included in the weekly Yeastspotting over at Wild Yeast, seriously check it out, there's always a mouthwatering yeasty roundup over there.)

So, although getting paid for today would have been nice, I can't say I was disheartened to find out that I'd gotten the call at 5:30 this morning that school was cancelled. Actually, I was snoring loudly at 5:30 this morning and the Brain is awesome because he took the call and let me know there was no school when I did wake up. The nice thing is that this makes a 5-day weekend then. See, tomorrow is a teacher-in-service and I stayed late yesterday to grade all my exams so I don't have to go. And then Monday is Martin Luther King Day. And this 5 day weekend is going to be followed by a great and rewarding day. My birthday. Which I will be celebrating with a school double header. Whee. And a BIG HUGE blog giveaway. Make sure you check back here on the 20th to see what's going on.

Today was spent cleaning the house. Because once the house is clean, THEN I get to play. And I have loads of projects to play with. And it wouldn't be a frigid cold winter day at home without my brain turning to soup. Yummy lentil soup. It started off as a Cooking Light soup, but I got way sidetracked. Overall, it's pretty yummy. And yeah, I'm hoping it makes up for skipping Legume Wednesday. sorry.

Lentil Soup
a sort of original recipe
6 servings

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 large stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small bulb fennel, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups brown lentils
4 cups fat-free, low sodium, chicken broth
1 cup water
1 (15 ounce) can petite cut tomatoes
the juice of one lemon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat. Add the onions, celery, carrots, fennel, thyme, garlic, and bay leaf and saute for 12 minutes. Add the lentils and cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Stir in the broth, water, and tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes until the lentils are very tender. Remove from the heat. Discard the bay leaf, add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and stir to combine.

13 comments:

Peter M said...

Mary, I love lentil soup and yours is making me particularly hungry.

glamah16 said...

And I thought I was busy. Enjot this long weekend and Happy Birthday(in case I miss you).Lentil soup will keep you healthy.

Johanna GGG said...

You are so organised to get the house cleaned and then play - but hope it will make time for lots of fun on your birthday weekend - and hope you make lots of mess cooking :-)

Deborah said...

Delicious!! I always love a snow day.

Brilynn said...

I have no idea where time goes either, busy busy. I also think sometimes I really could live on bread alone, especially if I have good butter to go with it.

Cakelaw said...

The lentil soup loooks delicious and very hearty. Yay for you - hoep you are enjoying the long weekend, especially the sleep-ins.

Megan said...

Great looking soup to get you through such a long weekend.Lucky you! Enjoy :)

needlequeen said...

Mary,
I'm looking forward to making this recipe! I only introduced lentils to my bf recently and he hasn't swayed one way or another on whether or not he likes them. I had no idea you were on a path towards becoming a teacher, coincidentally I am on a similar path!

Anyway, thanks for giving me the link to your blog!
(The girl from Joann's)

The Blonde Duck said...

Saw your blog at Cakelaw's and had to stop in. I love your lentil soup!

Anonymous said...

Girl, if anyone deserves a day (or five) off, it's you. I hope you used some of the time to be a complete slacker.

Emily said...

The soup looks very filling and delicious!

Mary said...

Peter- Me too! Thanks!

Courtney- Thanks! Don't worry if you miss me.

Johanna- I'm a surprisingly non-messy cook! And I won't have room to play if I don't clean first!

Deb- me too!

Brilyn- I could TOTALLY live on bread with butter!

Cake- I have been sleeping in! How did you know?

Megan- Thanks it's really delicious!

needlequeen- I guess I forgot to mention it! And yeah I've been scoping out patterns online so I should be in again soon!

Blonde Duck- Thanks for stopping in!

Erin- I have my complete slacker moments!

Emily- It's super filling and just right for these crazy cold days!

Anonymous said...

Your soup looks deliciously nourishing, ideal for cold winter nights.