So I had been wanting to make lentil soup, but was finding this difficult as I had no vegetable stock. Eventually I bought some stock, and made the Moosewood Cookbook lentil soup recipe.
Directions:
Simmer 3 cups of lentils in 7 cups of stock or water and 2 tblsp salt. (I did 4 cups stock and 3 cups water, because that was how much stock was in the container i bought) for at least 4 hours.
Then add 1 cup each of celery, carrots and onion as well as 2 tblsp garlic and 1 can diced tomatoes (the real recipe calls for 3 chopped tomatoes, i believe - but it's winter, there aren't tomatoes anymore.)
Simmer for at least another 4 hours.
Half an hour before serving add: 2 tblsp lemon juice, 1.5 tbls wine vinegar (I used red), 2 tblsp dry red wine, 1.5 tblsp brown sugar.
Serve and enjoy. I don't know how many it serves - a lot. If you aren't feeding at least 4 people, be prepared to eat a lot of soup, or freeze left overs.
Part 2: As my original dilemma was lack of stock, clearly making my own stock was something that needed to be done. Here is what I did. I put in 2 pieces each of my left over carrots and celery. Then I found all the vegetables in my fridge and I put them in my crockpot. (If you don't a crock pot, the largest pot you have will work fine) Also, add any left over herbs you might have in your fridge/house.
* I use stock as a way to not throw things out. I don't use total scraps - these I compost, however there are always vegetables in your fridge that are just a little past their prime. These are what I use for stock, in addition to fresh vegetables that I have a lot of/ I'm not really going to use past a given recipe (like celery. I don't like celery)*
Cover all vegetables with water as best you can (some may float) and let simmer for several hours. Here is where the crock pot is awesome because you can put it on whenever, and go about your day or night. However if you keep the stock at an actual simmer on an actual stove, you're probably fine. (But it probably isn't that great to leave the house/apt, especially if you have a gas stove.) After several hours (I'd say at least 6, but 12 is probably best) you can take out all the use up vegetation and compost it. Then store your stock. There will probably be a fair amount of it, so again, make sure there is room in your freezer!
Happy Eating!
Beki
