Sopa de Lentejas
Soup
When I had a vegetarian hiatus, one of my go to foods was lentil soup or lentil stew. I remember making the dish one day and, to my great surprise, an Indian roommate of mine at the time telling me that the dish reminded him of home. It too reminds me of home, but these two places are over 9,000 miles away. Turns out lentils are a crop that date back to around 7000 BC and were brought to Mexico from Spain – which in turn received the crop from its Moor era. Cross your i’s and dot our t’s and turns out we are all connected through North Africa.
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
16 oz
any color of lentils (I like the green ones)
1
medium yellow onion
2 cloves
garlic
1 tbsp
chipotle brine
2
limes
1 sprig
cilantro
To taste
salt
To taste
pepper
To taste
cumin
Instructions
- Rinse your lentils in a colander thoroughly. Then, in a soup pot (7ish Qt), fill with water and begin to boil your lentils. This will take 1-2 hours.
- Dice your onions into a 1/2-1 inch die. Mince the garlic.
- Sautee the onions under low heat with your oil of choice. Add salt about halfway through and cook until they begin to turn light brown. Two minutes before taking them out, add your garlic.
- Stir the onion garlic oil mix and add salt, pepper, and cumin to taste. Little by little, don’t over salt. You will be sad if you do. Be careful with the cumin as well, as its flavor can quickly become overpowering.
- Continuously taste your soup for doneness. As soon as they are no longer raw, you can serve as a soup. The longer you boil, the thicker the broth will become and the mushier the lentils. How you eat them is up to you.
- Serve with chipotle brine, lime, and cilantro. Correct for salt if needed and enjoy!
