We’ve had some snow and sub-freezing temperatures in the last week. In weather like this, the last thing I want for dinner is salad. Soup is required.
I cook more dried lentils than other legumes. They cook much faster, especially if you presoak them. In addition, lentils are grown in the Palouse region of Washington state. Our local Town and Country Markets carry a variety of Washington-grown lentils. They’re also a fixture in a variety of cuisines. I decided to go Basque with the soup, riffing off a recipe I saw in a cookbook. Here’s what I did:
I chopped up about a cup of onions, 2/3 of a large carrot, and two celery stalks. I sautéed them along with two small cut-up Spanish chorizo sausages. Once the onions were translucent, I added 1/2 pound of lentils that I’d soaked in the refrigerator for about 10 hours, about 6 cups of chicken broth, a teaspoon of dried thyme, and a bay leaf. I also stirred in about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste that I had in the freezer. After about a half hour, I stirred in some jarred chopped roasted piquillo peppers and a brown rice/wild rice/ barley mixture that needed to be used. I let the soup simmer about 15 more minutes. Just before serving, I added some chopped up kale to the pot. Not only did the soup warm me up for that dinner, but for lunches the following two days.
I’ll confess that the soup was predominantly a clean-out-the-fridge-and-pantry affair. You could substitute any cured sausage, such as kielbasa, for the chorizo. Or go vegetarian and leave out the chicken broth and sausage. Regardless, you have a substantial soup to ward off the chill.
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