French Lentil Soup and Raw Wednesdays

French Lentil Soup

Soup soup soup, what would I do without you? It's a good thing I like soup because I eat it daily. It's the ultimate comfort food. The soup above was my take on French Lentil, but without the French Lentils. I used regular lentils, but spiced it up with mustard and tarragon. If you had French Lentils on hand, the soup would be even better! They hold their texture better, but brown lentils are certainly cheaper. 

French Lentil Soup

2 T EVOO

½ t mustard seeds

1 T tarragon

½ t thyme

½ t rubbed sage ( or ¼ t sage powder )

½ t rosemary

½ t coriander

1 large onion

10 cloves garlic

2 large carrots, diced ( around 2 c )

1 large celery stalk, diced ( around ¾ c )

1 bay leaf

Good pinch salt

¼ t white pepper or generous pinch black pepper

2 T apple cider vinegar, golden balsamic vinegar or ¼ c white wine

4 c vegetable stock

3 c cooked lentils

2 T Dijon Mustard

Salt/Pepper to taste

1 c fresh parsley or 1 T dried parsley 

Method:

In a heavy bottomed soup pot over medium heat, add the olive oil and spices. When the mustard seeds start to pop add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, bay and a good pinch of salt/pepper. Saute for at least 15 minutes. Now deglaze with the vinegar or wine. Stir well and then add the vegetable stock, cooked lentils and mustard. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer; cover and let cook for 30 minutes. Season with salt/pepper to taste and stir in fresh parsley. 

One of the best tips I can think of  to keep the variety of foods interesting is to always have 2 kind of cooked legumes on hand and at least 1 cooked grain. I only season these with a bit of salt so I can use them for both sweet and savory dishes. 

I pound of dried lentils equals around 6 cups of cooked. With those 6 cups you can make a big pot of soup, take a cup and mix it with rice and vegetable for burrito filling, use some on a salad and add some to pasta or veggies and potatoes for a quick scramble. You don't have to be locked into eating " leftovers ".  If you do make a big pot of lentil soup with the entire pound ( and I do this as well ) have it for dinner one night and keep enough out for lunch a couple days later and freeze the rest in 2 cup portions. Having soup on hand for a quick meal is very convenient; especially if you cooking for 1.

I've decided that I'm going to do a raw day once a week. Wednesday is going to be that day! I've started soaking seeds for sprouting. I'll be making some raw bread in the next few days, so stay tuned!

I am tweeting everyhing I eat, so if you're interested in following me, there is a link at the top of my page to do so. I'm also going to tweet a Frugal Tip of the Day, so subscribe to twitter or my facebook page. 

Tip of the Day:  Before using any citrus fruits, carefully peel the zest making sure to avoid the pith. Store the zest in the freezer for later use.