BRRRRR… It’s Soup Season
Winter finally arrived to Chiot’s Run. We had a hard freeze 2 night ago, the night before last was in the teens and it was frigid again last night. This means the furnace is on more often, a few more layers are worn to keep warm, a big pot of soup is on the stove, and fresh bread is in the oven.
We love eating soup when it’s cold outside. We keep our house fairly cool in the winter, so soup is as welcome meal for lunch or dinner. We have a lot of favorites, one being the tomato soup I canned many quarts of this summer. We also like chicken stew with dumplings, butternut squash and chipotle soup, venison stews, sausage & lentil soup and curried red lentil soup. I found this recipe on-line somewhere a long time ago and have amended it a little to be a soup. If you want to eat it over rice omit the coconut milk and chicken broth.
Curried Red Lentil Soup
* 1 C. red lentils, picked over, rinsed, and drained
* 3 C. water
* 1 large tomato, cut into 8 wedges (or 8 oz. diced canned tomato)
* 1/4 C. olive oil or ghee
* 1/2 t. cumin seeds
* 1 medium onion (yellow or red), finely chopped
* 5 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
* 1 t. ground coriander
* 1 t. ground turmeric
* 1/2 t. cayenne (or less if you like it milder)
* 1/2 t. ground black pepper
* 1 T. butter
* 3/4 t. salt (or to taste)
* 1 can of coconut milk
* 1 pint of chicken stock
Directions
Place lentils, tomato (if using fresh tomato, if using canned add later) and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered until lentils are tender and have lost their shape, about 40 minutes (begin checking that there is still water in the pot at 30 minutes and add small batches of water as needed). Pick out any tomato skins and whisk to break up the lentils. Keep warm over low heat.
Make the tadka (Indian spice prep) as follows:
Heat oil in a medium skillet over high heat when oil is hot, add cumin seeds. After seeds have stopped sputtering, add the garlic and onion and saute over medium heat until most of the onion has turned brown, 5-10 minutes. Add the coriander, turmeric, and cayenne, stir, and pour the onion/spice mixture over the dal. Add the butter tomato (if using canned), (cilantro/parsley), and salt to the dal and simmer for another 5 minutes.
If eating as a soup add coconut milk and enough chicken broth to reach desired consistency. If eating over rice you can still add coconut milk or omit, whatever you like. Serve hot. I like to serve with naan (Indian flatbread).
What’s your favorite kind of soup?
Filed under Recipe, Seasons | Comments (14)
wonderful recipe!! and thanks for adding the naan link, too. even though i probably have it in a book, somewhere!! ;)
to annie avery's comment
It all looks so yummy! We love to make and soup too.
to Jackie @ Lilolu's comment
We love soup in the winter. I love it with fresh bread, but bread is hard when I work all day. Maybe I can start the dough before I leave and DH can punch it down twice and then bake it, We’ll have to give that a go.
.-= Tree´s last blog ..My Grocery Dilema =-.
to Tree's comment
For freshly baked bread you could also try delayed fermentation bread. Basically you make the dough the night before, do the first rise, punch down, shape and put it in the fridge. You husband could pull it out of the fridge an hour or so (or more if necessary) and bake that evening before dinner. Or you could make a few loaves on the weekend and simply warm in the oven for 5-10 min before eating.
to Susy's comment
Nothing beats homemade soup. I will have to make a pea soup soon.
.-= michelle´s last blog ..Feeling Like Christmas =-.
to michelle's comment
I love making Indian Dahl which is just lentil soup. It was my favorite thing to eat in India! I think I might like some of the other spices that you use. It’s so good!!!
.-= Diane@Peaceful Acres´s last blog ..A Serene Sunday =-.
to Diane@Peaceful Acres's comment
That bean and ham soup looks delicious. I’m partial to tomato based soups as well. Ministroni is my favorite because I can change the vegetable ingredients to whatever I have in the frig, ha!
to GirlWithCurls's comment
I like tomato based soups as well. We try to enjoy a mix so we don’t get tired of the same thing. I love that you can use up ingredients from the fridge to make a delicious soup.
to Susy's comment
My favorite soup… I love a really good clam chowder, which I haven’t had in years now as my husband is allergic to shellfish and I won’t contaminate our cookware with it. (Occasionally I cave and buy a canned version to clandestinely eat.) Second favorite though… it is a toss up between corn and potato chowder.
.-= Jaspenelle´s last blog ..Pieces of November =-.
to Jaspenelle's comment
I don’t know if I’ve ever had good clam chowder. I’d probably love it because I love seafood. I should buy some clams next time I’m in Cleveland and make up a pot.
I do like a good potato soup with bacon & chives – MMMMMM.
to Susy's comment
Your soups look lovely! I am a big fan of beef soup with barley in the winter. I have some oxtails in the freeze I am planning on turning into some really rich soup, maybe reduce my homemade stock by 3/4’s, yum.
.-= Dan´s last blog ..Harvest Monday =-.
to Dan's comment
Beef & barley go together quite well. It’s been a while since I’ve made it. The farm we get beef from will have fresh soup bones here pretty soon. I can’t wait! (neither can Lucy)
to Susy's comment
Oh, this is hard! I love soups and stews, and often my dishes are a cross between them. But I’d have to go with two staples: (1) roasted potato and leek soup and (2) lentil soup (mixture of lentils, with ‘masala’ spices of cumin, mustard seed, cumin powder, fennel seed, turmeric, chili powder, paprika, ginger, and garlic). I’ve found that roasting the potatoes first gives the soup a lot more depth to it than just cooking them together. Its also a great way to use those overwhelming potatoes all winter long.
.-= Mangochild´s last blog ..Spotlight: 2009-2010 Dark Days Weeks Two and Three =-.
to Mangochild's comment
This looks wonderful…lentils are some of our favorites around here. Thanks for the new recipe!
We eat a LOT of vegetarian chili…the kids love it with homemade flat bread, Kim
.-= the inadvertent farmer´s last blog ..Water Park in December a Poem on Not Me Monday! =-.
to the inadvertent farmer's comment