Lentil Soup

A hearty soup full of intense and balanced flavor.

• 150 g or 0.4 lb dried brown lentils
• 700 ml or 1.5 lb water
• 1 bigger potato
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 2-5 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• spices (thyme, black pepper, parsley, sage, bay leaf…)

Cook the chopped onions on a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Make sure the heat stays low and sprinkle the onions with salt. It will release the juices that will prevent it from burning a bit. Continue cooking until the onions are soft or caramelized. Depending on your time and patience.

Peel and chop the potatoes, carrot, and the garlic. Add rest of the ingredients and water and let it simmer for about half an hour. Everything should be tender. My basic choice for spices for this soup are thyme, bayleaf, and a bit of black pepper. Sometimes, when I have a lemon available, I add also about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

More calories mean more joy:

This basic soup is full of lentils and vegetables. An ideal dish for a light supper. But if you desire something more filling and add more nutritions, there are many ways to enrich the basic version. One traditional way in our family is adding sour cream or 10% cooking cream for the last five minutes of boiling. Or even milk will do. The soup will be thicker and hearty.

This could be called a vegetarian soup. Even vegan without the dairy. But if you like meat, don’t hesitate to give the legumes company. A sausage or a bit of bacon fried with the onions will give you a wonderful soup for carnivors.

Green or split pea go wonderful with brown lentils. You can experiment with adding the pea in whatever version you like. Or use different kind of lentils.

The gassy legume case solved:

Lentils, beans, and peas have all a rather unflattering reputation. They are often accused of causing a lot of gas in the intestines. While it is true because they (mainly the beans) contain certain oligosaccharides that cannot be fully digested, there is an easy remedy.

Soaking the legumes in water helps to remove the oligosaccharides from them. Again, there are more ways to do this. Some people choose to let the legumes soak in one dose of water overnight. Some even change the water a few times.
It is possible to use boiling water and let the legumes simmer for a while before letting them cool for a few hours. Or boil them several times. It is up to you how much time and energy you can spend on this preparation. The only one important thing to remember is to use new water for the actual soup and get rid of the soaking water.

Another thing to point out is that peas and all kinds of lentils do not contain that much oligosaccharides and they do not cause that much gasy problems. The beans are usually the main troublemakers. But little kids and people with sensitive digestive system may find it beneficial to soak even the lentils before cooking.