Green Lentil Soup with Curried Brown Butter

December 30, 2011 | Filed Under Lentils, New Year's, Soups | 7 Comments 

 

Delicious!  That’s how this Green Lentil Soup with Curried Brown Butter tastes.  Just delicious!

I hadn’t planned on cooking anything yesterday evening.  I was tired.  Then someone complained about being hungry.   I remembered this recipe from 101 Cookbooks and thankfully had all the ingredients – well almost all the ingredients, except the chives and broth.  My soup still tasted really good. 

The instructions say to puree the lentils soup with an immersion blender.  I don’t have an immersion blender and I really couldn’t be bothered trying to putting the lentils in a regular blender.  Too much work.  Remember it’s me.  I like easy and simple.   No fuss.  Besides, I like the texture and bite of the whole lentils in my mouth.  I was happy with the outcome of my soup.  It was perfect for a cold day and is definitely a perfect meal for cold New Year’s Day.  

I don’t believe this specific soup is a customary good luck meal but it contains lentils, which are traditional symbols of good luck (they represent money)  in many countries.  So, I consider this a perfect meal to enjoy at the start of the New Year.  I like that.  May the New Year 2012 be a good year for all of us. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012, everyone!

Peace, love, hope, joy, good heath, and prosperity,

Paz

 

 

Green Lentil Soup with Curried Brown Butter

from 101 Cookbooks

 

You can use either green lentils of green split peas here. Both are delicious, but the green split peas tend to lend a brighter green color to the soup.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, ghee, or extra-virgin coconut oil?
1 large yellow onion, chopped
?3 cloves garlic, chopped?
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
?5 1/2 cups / 1.3 liters good-tasting vegetable broth or water

1 1/2 cups / 10.5 oz / 300 g green lentils or green split peas, picked over and rinsed

3 tablespoons unsalted butter?
1 tablespoon Indian curry powder
?1/2 cup / 125 ml coconut milk
?Fine-grain sea salt?
1 bunch fresh chives, minced

small cubes of pan-fried paneer (optional)

Combine the 2 tablespoons butter, onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a large soup pot over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the onions soften, a couple minutes. Add the vegetable broth and lentils and simmer, covered, until the lentils are tender. This usually takes 20 to 30 minutes, but can take as long as 50 minutes.??

In the meantime, warm the 3 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and let it brown. When it starts to smell nutty and fragrant, stir in the curry powder and sauté until the spices are fragrant, less than a minute.??When the lentils are finished cooking, remove from the heat, stir in the coconut milk and 1/4 teaspoon salt, and puree with an immersion blender. You can leave the soup a bit chunky if you like, or puree until it is perfectly smooth.

Stir in half of the spiced butter, taste, and add more salt, if needed, typically a couple of teaspoons if you used water instead of a salted broth. Serve drizzled with the remaining spice butter and sprinkled with chives, (and paneer cubes if you’re using them).??

Serves 4 to 6??

Prep time: 5 min – Cook time: 45 min



Lentil Stew with Sausage

October 20, 2010 | Filed Under Italian Sausages, Lentils | 8 Comments 


 

I love this stew.   It tastes much better than it looks in the photo above.  Really, it does.   I first made this in the beginning of the year and made it several more times after that (with or without the bacon).   Now,the weather is cooler, the stew is warm and filling.  It’s the perfect time to make it again.  

Paz

  

Lentil Stew with Sausage
Simply Recipes

 

Ingredients

  • 1/3 pound of bacon (about 5 thick slices), cut into 1-inch by 1/4-inch strips
  • 1 medium-large yellow or white onion, chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
  • 2-3 large carrots, diced (2/3 cup)
  • 2-3 large ribs celery, diced (2/3 cup)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
  • 1 pound brown or green dry lentils, rinsed and picked over to remove anything that shouldn’t be there (like a small rock for example)
  • 3 cups water
  • 3 cups chicken stock (can sub water for a total of 6 cups of liquid)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 pound Italian sausage (mild, sweet, or spicy, your choice) or smoked sausage, in links (about 2-3 links)
  • 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar (can sub cider vinegar)
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, with a little extra for garnish

Method

1 Heat a large, thick-bottomed pot (6 to 8 quart) on medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until much of the fat has rendered out and the bacon is browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon from pan to a dish, set aside. Remove (and reserve for another use) all but 2 Tbsp of bacon fat. (If you discard the excess fat, let cool to solidify first, then discard in the trash. Do not pour down the drain or you will clog the drain.)

2 Heat the remaining fat on medium high and add the carrots, onions, celery, and cumin. Stirring frequently, scraping up the browned bits at the bottom of the pan, cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more, until fragrant.

3 Add back in the cooked bacon, the rinsed lentils, stock, water, thyme, bay leaf. At this point add a teaspoon of salt and some pepper. You will season more to taste later. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook partially covered until lentils are tender, about 40 minutes.

4 While the lentils are cooking, heat a frying pan on medium heat. Add the Italian sausage links. Gently cook, browning on all sides, until just cooked through. Remove from pan, let cool enough to handle. Cut into pieces of desired length (1 to 2 inches, or you can just keep whole) and add to stew for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

5 Add sherry vinegar and parsley to stew. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. You may need to add more salt than you expect, especially if you are making the stew with water only and not water and stock.

Serves 4-5.



Arroz con Menestra (Lentil Stew with Rice)

March 16, 2010 | Filed Under Ecuadorian Recipes, Laylita's Recipes blog, Lentils, Rice | 13 Comments 

Lentil stew

 

Okay.  So the rice is missing in the photo with the lentil stew, but we all know what rice looks like.  Right?

I always enjoy reading and then trying to prepare the Ecuadorian recipes that I see on Laylita’s Recipes.  This is another simple  recipe — Lentil stew with rice.   The lentils simmer with onions, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, cumin and cilantro.  That’s about it.  According to Laylita, this is a popular dish in Ecuador.  It’s served with grilled meat (The full name of the dish is actually arroz con menestra de lentejas y carne asada — lentil stew with rice and grilled meat.).   Like Laylita, I substituted the meat with a fried egg.  Loved it!

Paz

 

 

Lentil Stew with Rice (Arroz con Menestra)
Laylita’s Recipes

 

 

Ingredients:

3 tbs canola oil

1 red onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

3 tomatoes, diced

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp cumin

3 tsp salt

1 tsp achiote

4 tbs chopped cilantro

7 cups of water

1 lb lentils

 

 

Preparation:

  1. Heat the canola oil on medium heat in a large sauce pan.
  2. Add the onion, bell pepper, tomato, garlic, cumin, salt, achiote and 2 tablespoons of the cilantro to make a refrito for the stew.
  3. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all the ingredients have softened, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add the water and increase heat to bring water to boil.
  5. Add the lentils and reduce the heat to medium low, cover partially and cook until the lentils are tender, stir in the remaining 2 tbs of cilantro and remove from the heat.
  6. Serve with Ecuadorian style cooked rice, carne asada o carne frita (fried thin beef steaks), fried ripe plantains or fried green plantains, and a small salad or avocado slices.