Photo: Leigh Loftus
On Sundays I always fantasize about getting all of my laundry, errands and exercise out of the way early so that by 3 or 4 PM, when the sun is still out but the air is turning crisp, I can be planted in the kitchen prepping meals for the week.
That almost never never happens. Instead, my Sundays are usually a jumble of brunches, treadmill runs, hours idling on my balcony when the weather is nice, and an equivalent number of hours spent glued to my laptop catching up on my neverending reader. Before long, it’s 6PM and I have about 4 hours worth of laundry and productivity in front of me before I get to veg out on the couch, as Sundays were intended for.
But eventually, I got around to making lentil soup. I’ve made it a few times before with a recipe, which I know I have written down somewhere, but I couldn’t find it and decided to improvise.
Photo: Leigh Loftus
- Lentil Soup with Chunky Potatoes and Ham
- Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 small onions, chopped
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
- 4 ribs celery, diced
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground coriander*
- 2 cups dry lentils, rinsed
- 3 cups FF/Reduced Sodium beef broth
- 1½ cups water (you may need to add more as soup thickens)
- 4 oz diced ham
- 1 small white russet potatoes, cubed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over high heat. Add garlic, onions, celery and carrots and sautee until slightly tender. Add paprika and ground coriander and continue stirring until onions become translucent.
- Add broth and lentils and let simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until lentils have become tender. Stir consistently, and as soup thickens, add 1½ cups of water, approximately ½ cup at a time.
- Once lentils are tender and soup has formed a thicker consistency, add diced ham and cubed potato. Simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes longer, or until potatoes are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste
- Serves about 8.
5 Comments
Sarahmary
February 6, 2014 at 5:08 amYour recipe looks easy and yummy. Have you made this since the coriander mishap? Id like to make this but wondering was it better the 2nd time around?
Easy Entertaining: Red Lentil Hummus
June 5, 2011 at 3:42 pm[…] they are certainly in the winter rotation for things like lentil soup with spicy Italian sausage or lentil soup with chunky potatoes and ham. Beyond that, lentils are a once-in-awhile thing and yet, they have a permanent place wedged […]
alexandra's kitchen
October 17, 2008 at 3:00 amyum! it’s like the best part of the pie without all of the work. Now, I have to say, that I totally agree about the work that goes into homemade desserts, and sometimes it isn’t worth it. I think, however, that when the day arrives and you feel so compelled to make your own pie crust from scratch, you will be happily surprised! You might not make it every weekend, but you certainly won’t go back to those store-bought varieties!
I love this idea.
Kim/hormone-colored days
October 17, 2008 at 3:00 amYeah, not so photogenic. Glad it worked out okay. I like the column in Rachael Ray mag where people write about their kitchen disasters. Makes me feel competent. Oh, and I like Julie Tilsner’s blog, Bad Home Cooking. She rarely gets it right, but always has a sense of humor.
Sandy S
October 17, 2008 at 3:00 amI love lentil soup and this recipe sounds wonderful. Very cozy, like a comfortable old sweater on one of those can’t-get-warm days!