Lentil Soups: Easy, Filling and Delicious

Have you made a pot of lentil soup lately?
It's healthful cooking at its best: easy, hearty, tasty and loved by young and old.

Lentils come in one-pound bags in the dry beans section of your supermarket.
Usually you will find two kinds: ordinary greenish-brown lentils, and orange lentils which are actually just the ordinary lentils with their skins removed. You may also find tiny dark green lentils, called French lentils, but these are usually more expensive and may be in the gourmet or international section of the store. All cook quickly and make wonderful soups.

Here are three of Diana's favorite recipes. They all use chicken or vegetable bouillon made from cubes or liquid concentrate as the soup base; you can pick your favorite brand or just use water if you prefer.


Golden Lentil Soup

1 cup orange lentils
6 cups bouillon
4 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons curry powder
pinch cayenne, or to taste

Bring all of the ingredients to a boil in a large pot and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Mash the lentils or puree them with a hand blender . The recipe works equally well with regular (brown) lentils or split peas.

4-6 servings


Italian Lentil Soup

1 cup lentils (any type)
6 cups bouillon
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
pinch cayenne, or to taste
1 teaspoon oregano
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup bulgur
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes, undrained, broken up
2 10-ounce bags baby spinach leaves (or use frozen spinach)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients but the spinach and black pepper in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook 30-40 minutes, or until the lentils and bulgur are tender. Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the spinach leaves, cover and cook 2 minutes more. Serve with ground pepper to taste.

6-8 servings


Lemony Lentil-Spinach Soup


8 cups bouillon
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cups lentils (any type)
1 medium red potato, cut in 1/2" cubes
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch cayenne, to taste
1 10-ounce bag baby spinach leaves
Juice of one lemon
Freshly ground pepper

Put the bouillon, onion, garlic, celery, lentils, potatoes and spices in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes or until the lentils and potatoes are both tender. Add the spinach and lemon juice and cook 5 minutes more. Serve with ground pepper to taste.

6-8 servings
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Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com

Cheese and Potato Soup - A Recipe for Cheddar Baked Potato Soup That Is Out Of This World

This cheddar potato recipe makes a soup that is creamy and smooth with true baked potato flavor. You can dress this up with a dollop of sour cream and chives or crumbled bacon, but I like it just as it is.

The flour serves to thicken the soup. I don't like my soup real thick, so I usually use less. If you like a real thick soup, increase the amounts to 6 tablespoons or a little more. The important thing when adding flour is to cook it in the butter before adding the liquid. This will avoid that raw flour flavor that can result if the flour is not completely cooked.

It is important that the soup not boil once the cream is added. Boiling will cause the cream to separate. If this is a problem for you, wait to add the cream just before serving and only reheat.

Cheddar Baked Potato Soup Recipe

6 Tablespoons butter
1 cup yellow onions, diced
4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 cups hot chicken stock
4 cups baked potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse black pepper
1 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup diced green onions (white part only)

Additional grated cheese and chopped parsley for garnish

1. Cook onions in butter over medium-high heat until transparent, about 3 minutes.

2. Add flour, stirring to prevent lumps. Cook 3 - 5 minutes until just golden brown.

3. Add chicken stock gradually, whisking to prevent lumps, until liquid thickens.

4. Reduce heat to simmer and add potatoes, cream, chopped bacon, parsley, garlic, basil, salt, pepper sauce and black pepper. Simmer 10 minutes. Do not boil.

5. Add grated cheese. Heat until cheese melts and soup is smooth.

Garnish each serving as desired with grated cheese and chopped parsley. You can also use a dollop of sour cream and chives or crumbled bacon.
Do you need more easy soup recipe ideas? Sign up for our newsletter at Easy Soup and Stew Recipes from Easy Southern Cooking and get quick and healthy recipes delivered to your email regularly.

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Diane Watkins is a traditional southern style cook. She enjoys cooking, teaching, and writing about good food and family. For more information on southern cooking and recipes visit her website at Easy Southern Cooking

Delicious Mushroom and Carrot Soup

1 onion finely chopped
8 cups chicken broth
2 Tsp fresh basil chopped
1 Tsp fresh cilantro chopped
2 cups of mushrooms, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 tsp olive oil
2 carrots, sliced

Place the chicken broth in a large pan. Add the bay leaf and bring to a boil.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper (exclude the salt if the broth has salt). Stir and cook the mushrooms until brown. Add to the broth mix.

Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onions and carrots until soft. Add the basil and cilantro, stir until well mixed. Add all to the broth mix.

This recipe is a soup that can be served with a beef or lamb dish, it can be served over beef or lamb. For lunch this soup can be served alone or with a sandwich to round out the meal.

Mushrooms come in many varieties. Use your favorite mushroom with this dish or use a combination of mushrooms for an even more robustly flavorful soup. The nutritional value in mushrooms is what makes them special. Mushrooms provide several nutrients including riboflavin, niacin and selenium. They do not contain cholesterol, fat, or sodium. Mushrooms provide nutrients typical of meat and some grains.

Mushrooms can be fried, baked, grilled, boiled, served alone, served stuffed with meat or fish, as a soup here, as a topping over meat---especially steak. The list goes on and on. Mushrooms are both delicious and a diverse food, surely to delight the most discriminating palate.
Lois Center-Shabazz is the founder of the personal finance website, Msfinancialsavvy.com and the author of the award-winning book, Let's Get Financial Savvy!

Tasty and Easy Recipes of Soups From Stems, Spinach And Garlic Soup And Veg Clear Soup

Soup from STEMS OF VEGETABLES

INGREDIENTS:
8-10 stems of spinach leaves
4-5 tender stalks of the leaves just below cauliflower
2-3 stems of coriander leaves
1 small sprig spring onion
1 stalk of celery
1/2" ginger peeled and crushed
1 clovette garlic crushed
1 tbsp. cornflour
1/4 dried red chilli crushed
1/2 tsp. sugar
salt to taste
1/2 tsp. soya sauce
1/2 tsp. oil or butter
2 1/2 cups water.

METHOD OF PREPARATION:
Clean any fibrous threads from the stems. Chop the vegetables into thin slanted slivers. Heat oil in a pan. Add ginger garlic. Saute for a minute. Add vegetables. Stir fry till tender. Add water and bring to a boil. Mix cornflour in 1/2 cup cold water. Add to soup, stirring continuously till it comes back to a boil. Add the chilli, sugar, salt, soya sauce and boil till thickened like cornsoup Serve fresh and piping hot.


SPINACH AND GARLIC SOUP

INGREDIENTS
10 ounces Fresh spinach -- trimmed/coars.
4 cups Chicken broth.
1/2 cup Shredded carrots.
1/2 cup Chopped onion.
8 cloves Garlic -- minced.
1/3 cup Butter.
1/4 cup All-purpose flour.
3/4 cup Heavy cream or half & half.
1/4 cup Milk.
1/2 tsp Black Pepper.
1/8 tsp Ground nutmeg.

METHOD OF PREPARATION
In a 5-quart Dutch oven, bring spinach, broth and carrots to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat; cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute onion and garlic in butter until onion is soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add flour; cook and stir over low heat for 3-5 minutes. Add to spinach mixture. Puree in small batches in a blender or food processor until finely chopped. Place in a large saucepan. Add cream, milk, pepper and nutmeg; heat through but do not boil. Serve with bread.


VEG. CLEAR SOUP

INGREDIENTS:
2-3 juicy large carrots.
1-3 pieces bottle gourd.
1-2 leaves cabbage.
1 tbsp. cream.
1 small blob butter.
Salt, pepper to taste.
2-3 tbsp. cream whipped smooth.
1 small sprig mint.

METHOD OF PREPARATION:
Grate 1 tbsp carrot finely, Keep aside. Finely chop cabbage, Keep aside. Pressure cook remaining carrots with bottle gourd till very soft. Cool and blend in mixie. Strain. Heat butter, add the pulp and bring to just about boil. Add the grated carrot and cabbage and salt. Take in serving bowl. Add a swirl of whipped cream. Sprinkle freshly ground pepper and chopped mint before serving.

Add your own Garnishing and let us all know how it tasted. Do post feedback.

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