Light Summery Lentil Vegetable Soup

Light Summery Lentil Vegetable Soup

Nutritionnix

I made this Light Summery Lentil Vegetable Soup on Sunday to break the fast of the 17th of Tammuz, but I've been enjoying the leftovers ever since. And my husband has had it for lunch with pasta added to make it more filling. It's labeled "light," because the orange lentils cook quickly and disintegrated, unlike peas, rice, barley or pasta.

Since I didn't measure the ingredients, I'll just list them. My cooking is very flexible. Measuring is very rare. 

• orange lentils
• onion 
• carrot
• squash
• pumpkin
• mushrooms
• a bit of vegetable oil, coarse salt and coarse pepper
• water, of course

Cooking was in two steps. First I poured boiling water over the lentils, covered and waited over an hour. Then I added the cut up vegetables and the oil. Once it was boiling, I added more boiling water, plus the salt and pepper. Once it's boiling nicely, lower the flame to simmer for 35 minutes to an hour depending on your pot.

You can add other vegetables or leave some out. Generally I add some dill or parsley-- dehydrated is fine, but since I was fasting my mind wasn't fully there.

This is a very easy to make soup. Enjoy.

Easy Recipes and Enjoying The New Kitchen

Yesterday we had guests for a Succot lunch. They had been great fans of my new kitchen during the years I just talked and complained. I got a lot of support from them, so it was very exciting to host them. I served a fish meal, mujadarra, eggplant, baked vegetables, salad and salmon.

Mujadarrah:
1 cup brown rice
1 cup lentils
small/medium onion cut
a bit of cooking oil of your choice
4 1/2 cups boiling water

Put all but water in pot, saute a bit, then add boiling water, cover, bring to boil, lower to a simmer until you can't see any water. Leave covered at least another 10 minutes. Serve.

"Impressive" Eggplant:
eggplant
tomatoes
onion
fresh garlic
vegetable oil

Slice eggplant partially, so it opens like a book.
Fill with sliced tomato. Sprinkle diced onion and garlic, then oil. Bake in medium-high (or whatever is recommended by your oven manufacturer) oven until cooked.

"Fancy" Salmon:
Filet of salmon
lemon slices
fresh garlic
mustard
Decorate your salmon. Wrap in foil, if you're baking it at the same time as the other dishes, so it won't overcook. Otherwise just bake in a medium-high (or whatever is recommended by your oven manufacturer) oven until it seems ready. You can check that the salmon has changed color and is flaky where thickest. Yes, it's that simple.

I enjoyed the meal and hope everyone else did, too.

PS It was so much fun being able to cook so quickly. I could fit all three baked dishes in the oven at the same time. I love my new kitchen!!

Food Ideas for The Nine 9 Days

I really doubt that when chazal, our Jewish sages, decided that during the  Nine 9 Days, we shouldn't eat meat they could have known that fish meals would be much more expensive for us. That was the topic of this morning's post on Shiloh Musings, 9 Days Rather Ironic, Fish Yes, Chicken No.

My husband and I generally eat Shabbat leftovers for the entire week, and I have lots of portions of cooked chicken in the freezer. All you have to do is to recook them with vegetables and carbs. But during the Nine 9 Days, I have to cook every meal. Sometimes I have a stock of vegetable soup, but in all honesty, hot soup on hot days isn't a favorite.
Following are a few recipes. Your comments, recipes, reactions and ideas are welcome in the comments section, thanks.  Sorry, but I don't go for exact measuring of ingredients or cooking time. I encourage variations and would like to hear about yours.

Latest Breakfast, No Cravings
Yummy Cauliflower Casserole/Kugel
Frying Pan "Lentil Stew"
Do you Quinoa?
Simple Chickpea Salad
One-Pan Meal, Tuna Steak and Veggies
Shakshuka Plus
Lovely Lentil and Mushroom Dish
Pancakes
No Mayonnaise Egg Salad
Low-Carb, Crustless Dairy Quiche
This Year's Purim Soups, Yes Two 2

9

Which is your favorite? And what do you suggest from your own repertoire?

Hit The Spot Lentil Soup

For decades, I've broken fasts on vegetable soups. My kids remember them, too. I'm not quite sure when I started cooking them, but now it's automatic. So on Tuesday, while fasting to commemorate the Tenth of Tevet, I took a bunch of brown lentils, checked them first bit by bit on a white plate to make sure there were no stones or worse, and then I put them in a large pot, added boiling water, covered and let them sit.

I started a good few hours before the fast was to end, so the final cooking with vegetables shouldn't take long. When I checked softness and wasn't satisfied, I added more boiling water and boiled them on the stove a short time. After again letting it sit, I could easily see that they were soft and ready.

Then a couple of hours before I wanted to serve the soup, meaning break the fast, I added cut up:

• onion
• carrots
• squash
• a generous "splash" of vegetable oil

I boiled, then simmered it on the stove. And then I added cut up sweet potato and some dehydrated parsley. Salt and pepper were added close to the end of cooking. About a half hour before serving I turned it off, and then when it was time to eat, we had a feast. 

All I needed to fill me up after fasting was this soup, bowl after bowl. The lentils tasted like honey especially with the small chunks of sweet potato.

Food Before and After a Fast

 Today is one of the most difficult fasts on the Jewish Calendar, Tisha B'Av, the 9th of Av. It's the same long 25 hour fast as Yom Kippur, but unlike Yom Kippur  it isn't preceded and ended by festive meals. And we don't keep busy in shul/synagogue which is frequently well air-conditioned. This year was even more complicated than most, because the fast began during the last hour of Shabbat. Actually Shabbat was the 9th of Av, but we don't fast on Shabbat except when Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat. And this year the days before the fast were among the hottest, if not THE HOTTEST OF THE YEAR.

So when I was cooking for Shabbat I had to make sure that I prepared something special for Seudat Shlishit the last meal of Shabbat. I needed something that would be good pre-fast food. The experts say that carbohydrates are best, and I discovered during recent fasts that oatmeal was a great pre-fast food. The problem is that it isn't an easy Shabbat food. So I decided to try a version of Majadara, which combines rice and lentils. I bought brown lentils and brown basmati rice. To that I added, onion, mushroom and oil.

 

Once they were slowly cooking I added more than double the volume of boiling water. It was cooked covered, of course. I also served a version of my baked vegetables and salmon, plus some salad.

And we drank lots of water. Gd willing we'll do fine over the fast.

For breaking the fast, I plan on making my original vegetable, or easy vegetable soup, like I usually do.

What are your customary foods for before and after fasts?

Easy Lentil Soup Plus

This week I made myself a new version of my two-pot vegetable soup,

Lentil Soup Plus

• black and brown lentils
• celeriac
• carrots
• squash
• onion
• sweet potato
• vegetable oil and seasonings

I don't measure.  Sorry, but it all decides on how much you need and how large your pots are and how large the veggies are and what mood you're in.  This is a very easy recipe. Think flexible! 
A couple of hours before cooking...

• check lentils for stones or bugs
• put in pot and add boiling water and cover and leave for a bit
• add more boiling water and then cook on stove
• prepare your vegetables for the food processor or cut them up yourself

• put the vegetables in a pot after cutting or shredding
• add some oil and saute
• then pour in the cooked, or almost cooked, lentils and some more boiling water until pot's pretty full, cover and then simmer for at least 40 minutes
• season with salt, pepper and whatever
• cook another few minutes
• turn off and leave for at least 15 minutes

And it's ready and delicious!