Christine Datian’s Red Lentil Soup

13 years ago

It’s December in Florida. The outside temperature has finally dipped below 80°F during the day, while the evenings are a comfortable 60°. I planned on making lentil soup for dinner to ward-off the ‘chill’. It just so happened that my foodie-friend, Christine Datian, emailed me her special red lentil soup recipe – one that she developed from all the recipes that she’s tried – that very day. Christine currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, but is proud to say she was born and raised in Fresno, CA.

Since I was going to make lentil soup anyway, I decided to try her version, and with her permission, am posting it for you. I hope you’ll like it as much as we did!

Robyn’s Note: The only part of her recipe I didn’t do was to add the onions at the end. We really liked the minty aspect of this recipe.

Christine’s Red Lentil Soup

RED LENTIL SOUP (Vosp)

From: Christine Datian, December 1, 2011

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups red lentils

1/4 cup coarse milled bulghour

4 cans of chicken or beef broth, or 2 quarts of lamb broth if available or desired.

6 cups water

3-4 stalks celery (plus green tops), chopped or diced

3-4 carrots, diced thinly

1-2 teaspoons fresh mint leaves (chopped)

Dash of sweet basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Cayenne (red) pepper to taste

PREPARATION:

· Bring broth and water to a boil in a large soup pot.

· Wash lentils; add the lentils and bulghour to boiling broth with the rest of the above ingredients.

· Bring to a full boil, stir, and cover. Simmer for about 35-40 minutes on medium heat, checking occasionally to stir.

· Adjust seasonings. (Note: Use can use an electric hand blender at this point to BLEND this soup, this is what I do, so it is smoother and ingredients are blended!)

Also:

1-2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

1 large yellow onion (chopped)

1/2 cup chopped Armenian or Italian parsley (optional)

Saute onion in the butter or olive oil until the onions are slightly golden. Add onions to the soup 5-10 minutes before serving and add the chopped parsley, if desired.