Creamy Lentil Soup for the Dairy-Free Cream Lover

There are certain fall days that require a hot, hearty, creamy soup to warm the soul. Today was one of them. Rained all day. Overcast. A true fall nip is in the air. 

These days beg for warm creamy goodness. Sadly, it's been years since that need has been met. But we lucked out today. As a self-confessed lover of cream, this soup lands a spot on my top five list of creamy soups... despite the fact that it doesn't have an ounce of that eczema inducing product of cow lactation.

Creamy Lentil Soup for the Dairy-Free Cream Lover

You Will Need:

6 bacon slices

2 TBS olive oil

3 cups chopped onion

5 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth

2 cups baking potato, peeled and chopped

1 cup dried green lentils

3/4 cup chopped carrot

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup almond milk

2 TBS dry sherry

The Preparation Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot.

When oil is very hot, add the onions.

Brown 'em up, baby. About 5 minutes or so.

 

  

Add chopped potato, chopped carrot, lentils, chicken broth and salt. Swirl it all around. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for one hour or until vegetables are soft.

And now for my favorite part of any meal... the bacon. Fry it up. Nice and crispy. Remove bacon from the pan, chop it into smithereens, set aside to use as your topping for the soup.

Special note to all cooks who like their food extra tasty:

When your bacon is done cooking, you will have a bit of bacon grease sitting in the bottom of the pan. What to do? What to do? Take two tablespoons full of grease and stir it into the soup. Shhhh, don't tell anyone.

Special note to individuals concerned with their heart health:

I make no claims that this practice is in any way good for your health. I learned this trick from the cooks down the line in my Lithuanian heritage. Can't deny the urge to tie in the deep ancestral connection to my food.

Special note to all vegetarians: 

Pay no attention to the aforementioned step. Pretend I never spoke of it.

Ah ha! The hand blender. You need one.

Once the veggies are tender, take your hand blender to task in that deep soup pot. Puree until smooth.

Stir in the almond milk and sherry.

Top each serving with bacon crumbles. Ahhh!

This one goes out to some certain individuals who are serious about getting their boogie on...

Phish - Simple

Phish - 8/6/10 "Simple" from Phish on Vimeo.

Simple Lentil Soup

This is what my notes look like when I cook.

Random scribbles. Mine and Bubba's.

I've deciphered my notes so this lentil soup recipe will be simple and easy for you.

And by the way, this dinner was intended to be made by ol' Bessie (the crockpot) but things didn't go as smoothly as I had anticipated on this weekday morning when the kids had the day off from school.

So at 4pm, when there were seven little kids in my backyard and there was no dinner in the pot and I needed to be out the door in two hours to teach my class, I improvised.


Simple Lentil Soup

2 Tbs olive oil
3 med carrots, sliced
1 med red onion, diced
2 stalks celery, sliced
6 small potatoes, cubed
2 Cups green lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 tsp dried summer savory
fresh ground pepper to taste
3 tsp Better Than Bouillon chicken/vegetable base (organic)
6 cups water
2 tsp balsamic vinegar


Heat olive oil in a large soup pot.


Dump in carrots, potato, onion, celery, lentils, summer savory and pepper. Twirl it all around. Mix the flavors up.



Then add the water and bouillon.

Bring to a rolling boil. Cover. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for approximately one hour until everything is soft and mushy to your liking.



Add balsamic vinegar. Mix it in. Top with sliced avocado if you like the creamy fatty goodness as much as I do.

And dance.

We danced to my new favorite band today. Close your eyes and listen to the sweetness of this song, friends.

The Zac Brown Band - Whatever It Is

Red Lentil Soup

On the menu for Tuesday's dinner was gazpacho. Turns out I forgot an ingredient at the store.

Well, I didn't actually forget it. I just didn't want to pay the price they were asking for a few cups of mushed tomatoes.

I told myself I'd get the tomato juice on my Walmart run. The juice didn't make it on my list, therefore it didn't make it into my cart.

I've got more things to worry about when I'm in that store - like keeping my toddler from using the cart as some kind of high wire circus act. All that to say, I needed to switch the dinner items around a bit.

No worries. This Red Lentil Soup is super easy and the ingredients can always be used at the beginning of the week or at the end. Perfect to fill a place in the menu whenever necessary.

You'll need:

2 Tbs olive oil
2 onions, diced
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, shredded
1 1/3 C red lentils
1 C orange juice
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme
ground black pepper to taste
5 C chicken or vegetable broth

Find yourself a nice soup pot.




Heat the olive oil a bit, then add the diced onions.




Cook until soft and transparent.




Drop in the load of lentils, celery, carrot, thyme, pepper and bay leaves. Swirl around.




Add the orange juice and 3 cups of the chicken or vegetable broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover.




Cook for 40 minutes or so until the lentils are tender, stirring once or twice.




Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. If you don't have an immersion blender you can use your regular blender. But you should have an immersion blender. Put it on the list for Walmart.

Add remaining 2 cups of broth, stir it up and heat through.




Serve immediately to your eagerly awaiting loved ones and offspring.