Lentil Soup (The one you grew up with)

Anyone who dined with my family around our farm table in Washington State will tell you they’ve had my mother’s lentil soup. Always served with a cheese plate and homemade Irish soda bread. Lentil soup was a staple in our vegetarian household growing up and continues to be a favorite of mine.

It was no surprise to me that my mother included the recipe for her soup in a cookbook she put together for me when I moved into my very fist apartment. I fell in love with the apartment on Doty Street. I don’t know if it was the vintage kitchen with linoleum floor reminding me of my Grandmothers house, or the freedom of having my own space to decorate. Whatever it was I failed to notice the heavy smell of bacon and cigarette smoke that plastered itself to the walls. I was all “Chin up” and what not, not willing to admit that if I had looked a little longer I may have found an apartment that would better suit me. For my first birthday at the Doty Street apartment dear old mom decided to put together a cookbook for me with all the recipes that I made growing up. Of course she included her famous soup giving it the title: Lentil Soup (the one you grew up with)

Soon enough the cigarette smoke, drunken domestic disputes of neighbors, and the desire to dairy farm again drove me away from Doty Street and back to St. Isidore’s Mead. I still reference the cookbook my mother gave to me and this time of year I find nothing quite warms the tummy like a bowl of Lentil Soup (the one you grew up with).

Being me, I sort of just glance at my mother’s instructions on the page and make it up as I go along. Depending on what I have in the garden or the freezer, I may add diced bell pepper or canned tomatoes. I always add cumin as I think it gives it a deep earth flavor. Mushrooms would do nicely too. No matter how I make mine it will never add up to the soup I grew up with, sitting down to eat it around a farm table with family, friends and Iris soda bread.

Lentil Soup (the one I made up)

1 Yellow onion, diced
3 Stalks celery, sliced 1/8 inch thick
2 Carrots, sliced to match the celery
3 Cups lentils (I find any color of lentils will do for my soup)
3 Heaping tablespoons cumin
Salt & Pepper
6 to 8 cups stock, more for thinning the soup

Sauté onions, celery and carrots over medium heat in a soup pot for about 10 minutes or until soft. Add the cumin and salt and pepper, cook for two minutes. Stir in lentils and add broth.

Cook soup on high for ten minutes, then turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes or so until the lentils are cooked.

Serve with a green salad, cheese plate and Irish soda bread. This soup often tastes better the next day!