Recipe of the Week - January 16, 2011

Hearty Lentil Stew (from Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert)

·       4 cups / 1 L water

·       1 cup / 250 ml dried lentils

·       1 cup / 250 ml fresh or canned tomatoes (chopped)

·       4 large carrots (chopped)

·       2 onions (chopped)

·       1 teaspoon dried thyme

·       ½ teaspoon dried marjoram or oregano

·       2 tablespoons dry sherry (optional…I don’t get this ingredient but I think the authors have a propensity to try to be a little fancy)

Cook these together until the lentils and carrots are soft, 40-45 minutes. 

·       ¼ cup parsley (chopped – I didn’t have this available and it tasted just fine)

·       2-3 teaspoons salt (I definitely did not notice this part)

As I mentioned before, I made this soup as an easy to heat up lunch for the rest of the week.  I doubled it and therefore had a hard time figuring out how much salt to put so I put too much.  I suggest individually salting your soup.  Since this soup is so simple, I’m sure you can play around with it and add different winter veggies like potatoes or even rutabaga.  Spices are always fun to try out too.  You can always jar and freeze the soup if you get sick of it and it’s just great on a cold, windy day.  Next week I will have a squash and apples recipe that I tried and really liked.  Until then enjoy the soup!