Cooking with Kelly: Lentil Soup

When the weather is cold I love cooking soups and stews.  I love having something simmer on the stove.  Plus I love only have one pot to clean..actually, it's Ryan that appreciates it since he does the dinner clean up.

So for this week I picked out a soup from this cookbook.

It's probably one of my favorites because for every single recipe there's a photo to go with it...I love that. 

Lentil Soup

Ingredients

• 3 strips (3 ounces) bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch half-moons
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth (3 1/2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

• 
  
• Directions

1. In a Dutch oven (or other 5-quart pot with a tight-fitting lid), cook bacon over medium-low heat until browned and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat.
2. Add onion and carrots; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomato paste, and cook 1 minute.
3. Add lentils, thyme, broth, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Cover; cook until lentils are tender, 30 to 45 minutes.
4. Stir in vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Serve immediately.
   
   
   When I cook lentils I prefer them to be cooked really well...I don't like chewy lentils.  So their 30-45 minute cook time I extended quite a bit.  I doubled the recipe so I needed more cook time anyway...but I ended up letting it simmer for about an hour and half and I would have liked to let it simmer longer!  But I had a bunch of starving kids and husband so I had to get in it on the table.  But all in all, it was very good...a very hearty soup!