I love hot soup, but in Southern California there is definitely only a certain season when it is pleasant to eat. Last week was blazing hot, but then an unexpected cold-snap hit and while I was shopping Sunday at the Farmer’s Market it was down right freezing (by my standards anyway…which means it was probably in the low 60’s…but seriously, I was wearing a jacket, so it was cold!) So I did what any hot-soup-lover would do, I bought ingredients for soup! I figured I should take advantage of the cold-snap as it would probably be the last week to enjoy hot soup for many months.
So I purchased a bag of mini gold potatoes (so smooth and creamy) and a couple of big leeks, and I also bought celery, carrots (with tops), onions and a big loaf of crusty French bread from Homeboy Bakeries. On Sunday night I made a simple lentil soup by sauteeing half an onion, a few cloves of garlic, 4 carrots and 4 stalks of celery in ghee (my oil of choice) until they were nice and soft. I then added 2 cups of lentils, 10-cups of water, 4 bay leaves, 1-tsp of thyme and 1-tbl of Better Than Bullion No-Chicken base and brought it to a boil and then cooked it on a low flame until the lentils were soft (about 20-minutes.) I then sprinkle with dill and serve with crusty bread.
Tonight I took the other half of the onion and sautéed it with a few cloves of garlic and the sliced leeks (just the white parts.) I sautéed until caramelized and added 8-cups of water and about 10 of the baby gold potatoes and 1-tbl of Better than Bullion. I brought it to a boil and then cooked it for 30-minutes on a low flame. I then transferred all of the solids and a bit of the liquid into a blender and pureed until smooth.
There is something so satisfying about soup! Enjoy the last of this cold weather. Namaste.
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