Easy Lentil Soup

@Dr. J- the sauteing step is for the onion. With careful attention to the process a tablespoon (or two, max) would be enough to brown the onion, with a splash of broth or water added as needed during those 6-9 minutes. I almost never use as much oil as the mainstream servants of 'classical' technique do. Use common sense and the quantity that is needed for the task at hand.

Instead of the vinegar i usually add lemon juice at the end. And considerably more than suggested- as much as a couple tablespoons , or whatever i find in an entire lemon. It brightens up the taste wonderfully. A 1/4 teaspoon of cumin also works wonderfully with the lentils and lemon. Topped off with a swirl of good olive oil and a dollop of sour cream or thick yogurt.

Then perhaps you should make a recipe for low/no salt, fat soup and publish; don't eat this one, although it looks delicious.

This soup has way too much oil: 6 tablespoons -- about 1/3 cup -- for 1 cup of lentils. Wow. I think almost anything can be made to taste "good" if enough oil/fat and salt is added. (Moose pie comes to mind.) The real trick, or skill even, is making low to no oil and salt recipes that taste fabulous. It can be done. And they are much healthier, too.

Classic. Personally I would not blend lentil soup because I like to see the pulses and vegies and like that texture (add carrots?). A tablespoon of red wine vinegar as garnish brings it home, and I mean deep home.

make mine without oil - onion, celery, carrots go in after lentils cook for 20 minutes. I also add can of diced tomatoes...salt, lots of pepper....vegetable stock to cook lentils in....growing up in italian/catholic area, Friday night dinner with the addition of pasta in the pot

Good standard recipe for lentil soup, been doing this for years, except that I use only lemon juice, even squirt a bit on top of each bowl to brighten it up. So satisfying and nourishing, I wouldn't change a thing (although maybe add a bay leaf but not necessary).

My variation: mushroom lentil soup. Double quantities. Use green lentils. For stock, I buy 1 qt ea vegetable and mushroom stocks. With a salted stock, watch the added salt. The large onion diced, along with 1 cup diced fennel and 1/2 cup diced carrots. Green lentils need twice the time stated above. Half way through, add 1 and 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (I use plain old white ones). Herbs, garlic same as above.

A couple of handfuls of baby spinach leaves and a heaping teaspoon of curry powder make a nice alternative.

Just remember to remove that bay leaf before inserting immersion blender into pot :)

This is delicious as is, with the exception of the salt. I think it’s way too much. Adding salt to reduce the onions is necessary but I think less than a teaspoon would do the job, and the additional salt added later is totally overkill. Other than that, totally divine.

I doubled recipe but still used only 1/4 c oil to brown onions—plenty. Used no sodium veg stock and salt as called for; perfect. Used dried thyme because that’s what I had. At the end I added lots more garlic, because I love garlic but cooked the soup an additional 10 minutes because I felt the raw garlic wouldn’t work for me. I did not add the final oil as stated in the recipe; seemed overkill. Nor did I add any of the “options”. Delicious!!

This looks wonderful--and pretty close to my recipe. I use marsala wine, a tiny hint of lemon juice, only chicken stock and a lot of garlic. Also, sometimes add in some fresh kale at the end and simmer for about 10 minutes. And sometimes toss in some pre-sauteed (so they're brown and crispy) some anduelle sausage slices. Serve it with a crusty baguette. It's one of my winter regular go-to dinners.

If you’d like to make this in a pressure cooker, reduce the stock to 3 1/2 cups, and cook on high pressure for 12 minutes, allowing the pressure to release naturally. quoted this from the notes above the recipe. Worked perfectly

Cooked this last week when the Polar Vortex paid a visit. Too cold to go to store, so I made do with what was on hand. Carrots, celery, onion. Finally used the ham bone in the freezer! Chicken bouillon cubes saved the day. No extra salt needed. Sherry vinegar. Squirt of lemon and chopped onions when served. Thanks for reminding me how good lentil soup is.