After the stomach flu had its way with four out of the five members of our family last weekend (Kendall’s the only one that escaped!), I was ready to make something for dinner other than water with a side of toast crumbs. I wanted REAL FOOD. Patrick explained it best when he said, “Nothing like the stomach flu to make you realize what your body really needs. When you haven’t eaten in a couple days, you’re not craving chips and candy!”
It was chilly and soup sounded divine. I tried out a new recipe using one of my new favorite ingredients—red lentils. I did a post a while back about lentils but in that post I didn’t talk about the red lentil, which actually has very different qualities than other lentils.
- They only need to cook for about 10 minutes instead of the 30 minutes that typical lentils need.
- Once cooked, red lentils lose their shape, and if cooked long enough, they get mushy.
For some recipes, you really want the more substantial texture of a brown or green lentil, but in others, the texture of the red lentil works perfectly. The only other recipe I had used red lentils in was the Curried Red Lentil Stew with Vegetables. It is delicious, but I was ready to branch out with a new recipe. I tried Red Lentil Vegetable Soup and it was fabulous as well. It was just what I needed to welcome my stomach back into the world of digestion.
We had some leftover mashed potatoes, so I created a well and served the soup inside of it. The girls love it when I do that. You gotta change up the presentation every once in a while!
I loved how the red lentils added to the thickness of the soup. What other recipes can I try my red lentils in?
I knew I wanted to have TONS of leftovers so I made a double batch. We ate it for dinner twice this week and I had it EVERY SINGLE DAY for lunch. You’d think I’d be sick of it by now, but I have one portion left and I wouldn’t be surprised if I shed a tear as I finish it off tomorrow. . .
4 comments:
I love soup, that sounds yummy! I've never tried red lentils but you are making it sound very tempting. I was about to suggest poorgirleatwell.com for more recipe ideas, but then I remembered it was red quinoa that she uses alot. Maybe she has red lentil recipes, too.
I recently tried a red lentil soup that we all enjoyed. I love the creamy texture of red lentils too. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lentil-Soup-with-Lemon/Detail.aspx
I'll have to try your recipes now! They look good!
That looks divine. And I've never done that with mashed potatoes...gonna have to give it a try.
I'm going to have to look harder for red lentils. I've been wanting to try them, but my favorite store for grains, etc. doesn't carry them. I did discover yellow split peas there, though, and use them to make a curried split pea soup with cauliflower. That stew you made looks so good--I want to try it.
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