Soupruary 4th: French Lentil

A cold night and an awesome television show made this quick, minimal effort soup the perfect mid-week choice. It was so easy that it brings to mind the ol' Showtime Rotisserie: "Set it, and forget it, and then soup!" (That soup part was totally there, you just missed it.) It was quite filling, but not so filling that I'd feel like dying during the laughing fits to which my friends inevitably subject me.

Location:
The penthouse, Northside, Cincinnati, Ohio

Attendees:
Ashley, Josh, Me (and Brent but he'd already eaten so he doesn't count)


Menu:
French Lentil Soup with Thyme-Infused Greek Yogurt
Sourdough
That’s it!


Entertainment:
Lost, complete with a multitude of exclamations of “WHAT?!?!?”
Brent & Josh Video Fun Time (here's a tiny taste, a video amuse-bouche if you will (you probably won't, because that's ridiculous))



The Soup:
Per Josh: “That soup was soup-er tasty, yo.”

I followed the recipe pretty exactly, just upping the garlic a bit, because it seemed like such a beautifully simple and classic dish. The balsamic vinegar splashed in at the end takes this soup on the one-way express from boringtown to awesomeville, and it’s fun to add a bit at a time till you hit exactly the right tang for your palate (and hope everyone else eating it has similar taste buds).

My big experiment on this soup is the Greek yogurt with thyme—I wasn’t sure how it turned out but it was a great flavor match for the soup and looked quite pretty, which is always a plus in my book. Because I made it up on a whim, I wasn’t paying close attention to proportions, but I’ll try to approximate it below.

This may not be a soup that will get you salivating just from reading about it, but on a fuh-reezing night like last night, this soup felt fully Goldilocks (i.e. just right).

Adapted from Bon Apetit, December 2006

3 T extra–virgin olive oil
2 c chopped onions
1 c chopped celery stalks plus chopped celery leaves for garnish
1 c chopped carrots
4 chopped garlic cloves
4 cups vegetable broth
1 1/4 cups lentils, rinsed and drained
1 14 1/2–ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
Balsamic vinegar

In your soup pot over medium-high heat, sauté the onions, celery, carrots and garlic in the olive oil for about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to brown. Season lightly with salt and pepper as you sauté. Add the broth, lentils and tomatoes with juice and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 35 minutes.

If you have an immersion blender, stick it in the pot and blend about 2 cups worth of soup, then incorporate the puree with the rest of the soup with your spoon. Otherwise, remove 2 cups of soup (getting just a little bit of the liquid) and blend it, then return it to the pot and stir it in. Season with salt, pepper, and vinegar to taste. Serve garnished with celery leaves (yum! Always my favorite as a kid).

***

Add a dollop of this creamy delight to your bowl of lentil soup for extra tastiness:

Greek Yogurt with Thyme

Adapted from my brain

1 T fresh thyme leaves

2 t boiling water

3/4 c 2% Greek yogurt

Place the fresh thyme leaves in a tiny cup and add the boiling water (just enough to cover the leaves; mine was about 2 teaspoons). Steep the leaves in the water for about 10 minutes—the water should be fragrant (like thyme tea!). Add the water and leaves to the yogurt and mix until fully incorporated. Done!