Thursday 10 November 2011

Herby Green Lentil Soup

Kitchen Play List: Shelby Lynne ~ I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore
                                     Basement Jaxx ~ Bingo Bango
                                     Melissa Etheridge ~ If I Wanted To
                                     Melissa Etheridge ~ A Message to Myself
                                     American Dog ~ Give The Dog A Bone
                                     Sugarbabes ~ Freak Like Me
                                     Queen ~ You're My Best Friend

Thrifty Thursdays have now arrived!  What kind of vegan would I be if I didn't start with the good old lentil soup? It had to be done. lol. But this soup comes in at just over £1 to make and it serves 4-6 people. Which I think is good value for money and good value in goodness. From next week I shall be providing a detailed list of costs. But to get me started I hope you try this recipe as it really is a keeper ~R~ 

It is no secret by now that I love a good soup. lol. One of my favourite lentils to use in soups is the very humble continental lentil. The recipe I worked from today called for the little green lentils ~ Lentils Vert...but I decided to use continental..I was feeling rebellious! lol. You can also use fresh herbs as the recipe calls for or use dried as I did. You will get a slightly different result but each are very tasty. I would say that it's almost a 'pottage' consistency but you can add a little more stock and thin it easily. I found the recipe in that fabulous set of vegan cook books by Linda Majzilk. Have you not bought them for yourself yet? Shocking! lol. This recipe was from the delightful A Vegan Taste of France

This soup may look..well..greyish/green but the flavours are just great. Please don't write this soup off before you have tried it once. We loved it. The smell as it was cooking made our stomachs rumble, it smelt so good.

Herby Green Lentil Soup
Herby Green Lentil Soup
(Recipe from A Vegan Taste of France/Majzlik)

6oz/175g green lentils
6oz/175g green pepper, finely chopped
4oz/100g ripe tomato, skinned and chopped
1 celery stick, trimmed and finely sliced
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
30 fl oz/900ml vegetable stock
4 rounded tbsp finely chopped fresh mixed herbs (eg oregano, thyme, basil, marjoram) or 4 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
black pepper
fresh sprigs of parsley

Soak the lentils in the vegetable stock for an hour and a half. Fry the green pepper, celery, onion and garlic in the oil in a large saucepan for 5 minutes, add the tomatoes and cook until pulpy. Now add the lentils and stock, chopped herbs and bay leaf. Season with black pepper and stir well. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes until the lentils are tender. Allow to cool slightly, then blend half of the mixture and stir this into the remaining soup in the pan. Reheat and garnish each bowl with a sprig of parsley.

Serve and enjoy...we did! 
~R~