Red Lentil Soup with Chorizo and Kale

Red lentils cook quickly, a blessing when you are in a bit of a hurry.

Olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1 1/2 cups dry red lentils
3 cups water or chicken stock
1 lb chorizo, casings removed
3 cups chopped kale
2 Tbsp dry sherry
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat a little olive oil in a soup pot. Add the garlic and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add paprika, salt, and lentils. Cover with water or stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until lentils are tender, 5-10 minutes.

While the lentils simmer, cook the sausage in a frying pan until nicely browned and cooked through. Break it up into crumbles as you go.

When the lentils are tender, add the chorizo and kale to the pot along with the sherry. Simmer until the kale is tender, about 5 minutes. Add pepper and salt to taste.

Serves about 4.

Pureed Red Lentil Soup with Sage, Kale, and Sausage

Red lentils cook quickly and make for a festive looking soup. Feel free to skip the sausage if you like, as the lentils make for a filling soup on their own.

Olive oil
8-10 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 large red pepper (frozen ok), diced
3 cups red lentils
6 cups chicken or veggie stock
1 bay leaf
1-2 tsp dried sage
1 lb sweet Italian sausage, sliced into thin rounds (or with casings removed)
1-2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 lb kale, stemmed and cut into ribbons

Heat some olive oil in a soup pot. Add the garlic and onion and saute over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the peppers and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add the red lentils, stock, bay leaf, and sage. Stir, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer until lentils are tender, about 10 minutes.

While the lentils cook, cook the sausage in a skillet over high heat until cooked through and nicely browned. Set aside.

When the lentils are tender, remove the bay leaf and puree the contents of the soup pot. Stir in the vinegar. Add salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Stir in the cooked sausage and the kale and continue to simmer until the kale is tender. Serve hot.

Serves about 6.

Pureed Lentil Soup with Roasted Red Peppers and Fennel

This is a warming, hearty soup, and the flavor of the roasted red peppers really comes through in every bite. If you want a version that's less brown, try red lentils (they also cook faster, but don't have quite the same comforting heartiness of their brown cousins).

2 cups brown lentils
7-8 cups beef stock and/or water
Olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium fennel bulb, cored and chopped
5-6 ounces roasted red peppers, chopped (~3 medium peppers)
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Place the lentils in a soup pot with 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer until tender, about 30 minutes.

While the lentils cook, heat a little olive oil in a large skillet.  Add the garlic, onion, and fennel, and saute over medium heat, stirring frequently, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted roasted red pepper and set aside.

When the lentils are tender, stir in the vegetable mixture and the red wine vinegar. Puree using an immersion blender or carefully do it in batches in a regular blender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4-6.

Variation: Substitute red lentils, chicken or vegetable stock, and white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar for a lighter texture and flavor.

Pureed Red Lentil and Potato Soup

A little bit Spanish style, with paprika and a bay leaf, and some good quality olive oil on top.

This is suitable for making in the slow cooker as well; just skip the sauteing step and toss everything into the pot.

olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped tomatoes plus their liquid (canned, or thawed if frozen)
1 1/2 cups red lentils
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 12 oz. total)
4 cups chicken stock and/or water
1 tsp paprika
1 large bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Good quality extra virgin olive oil for topping

Heat a little olive oil in a soup pot. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients except for the extra virgin olive oil. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the potatoes and lentils are tender, about 25-30 minutes.

When the potatoes and lentils are tender, puree the soup with an immersion blender, or do it in batches in a blender or food processor and return it to the pot. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.

Serve hot, adding a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to each bowl at the table.

Serves 4-5.

Red Lentil, Tomato, and Couscous Soup

This North African-inspired soup is a colorful and appealing use of some of the season's last tomatoes, plus cilantro.

1 cup dried red lentils
6-7 cups water
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 Tbsp butter
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 veggie bouillon cube
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 Tbsp cumin
2 tsp dried coriander
1-2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup dried couscous
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Place the lentils and water in a soup pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat while you prepare the rest of the soup, about 12-15 minutes. Add the tomatoes to the pot.

Heat the butter in a large skillet, then sauté the garlic and onion until tender, about 5-6 minutes. Add to the lentils and tomatoes.

Add the bouillon cube, cayenne, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper to the soup and stir well. If the lentils are not yet tender, continue to simmer the soup until they are.

Add the couscous. It should cook in 3-5 minutes.

When the couscous is tender, add the lemon juice and cilantro. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. Serve hot.

Serves 3-4.

Savory Rhubarb Lentil Dal

This is slightly adapted from a Mark Bittman recipe published in the New York Times. It is the only savory rhubarb recipe I've seen (not that I have hunted exhaustively). The rhubarb lends a lovely sour note to the curry, something that might otherwise be achieved with keffir lime leaves. I thought this was fantastic, but my husband didn't like it that well, alas. Try it for yourself and see what you think. Serve this over brown rice.

3 cups rhubarb pieces (1-inch lengths), peeled first
1 1/2 cups red lentils
1/4 tsp cardamom
3 whole cloves
1-2 whole dried chili peppers
1 1/2 Tbsp mustard seeds
3 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
Salt to taste
Plenty of coarsely ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and add water to cover everything by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat until the lentils and rhubarb are very soft. Remove the chili peppers and cloves (if you can find them). Stir the dal quite a bit so that the rhubarb and lentils both sort of disintegrate.

Serves 4-6.

Ginger-Sage Lentils and Barley with Greens

Pantry items plus early season greens is where we seem to be at the moment... This is adapted from a recipe in Didi Emmons's Vegetarian Planet. The flavor combination may sound odd, but it's delicious. If you're feeling lazy or rushed, just mince the garlic and ginger. Don't substitute olive oil for the canola, as the flavor is too strong (other neutral oils are fine).

1 cup pearl barley
1 Tbsp butter
1-2 Tbsp canola oil
8-10 cloves garlic, julienned
1 1-inch chunk ginger, peeled and julienned
1 medium onion, sliced lengthwise
1 cup red lentils
1 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
2-3 tsp dried sage
1/2 lb spinach or other greens, stemmed

Heat 3 cups of water in a medium saucepan. When it comes to a boil, add the barley and reduce the heat to a simmer with the pan partially covered. Cook until the water is absorbed and the barley is tender, about 25 minutes.

While the barley cooks, heat the butter and canola oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic, ginger, and onion, and cook 5-6 minutes. Add the lentils, salt, pepper, and sage and cook, stirring, for a minute or so. Add 1 cup water and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook until the lentils are tender, about 6-8 minutes (check and stir occasionally to be sure they don't burn and stick). When the lentils are done, increase the heat to medium-high and add the spinach or other greens (you may have to do this in batches), cooking until just wilted. Remove from heat.

When the barley is done, combine all ingredients in a large serving bowl. Serve hot.

Serves about 4.

Update, 3/16/09: Thanks to the person who noticed I didn't include the amount of water to add to the lentils--it's in there now.

Middle Eastern Chickpea and Red Lentil Soup

This is one of those pantry-based dishes...plus some local red onions and garlic, and cilantro from the freezer.

Lately I have been cooking up large batches of chickpeas, black beans, etc. and freezing some for uses like this. It's easy enough to cook up, say, several cups of chickpeas and use some for a batch of hummus, some for this soup, and put some in the freezer for next time.

6-8 cloves garlic, minced
1 large red onion, chopped
1-2 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 cups cooked chickpeas
3/4 cup red lentils
1/2 cup bulgur wheat (substitute quinoa if you like)
1 veggie bouillon cube (optional)
1/4 cup lemon juice
2-3 frozen cilantro cubes
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a little olive oil in a soup pot and saute the garlic and onion for 3-4 minutes. Add the cumin and coriander and saute a minute or so longer. Add the chickpeas, lentils, bulgur, and bouillon cube. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the lentils and bulgur are tender, about 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice, cilantro, and salt and pepper.

Serves 4-5.