Lentil and Bacon Soup

SOUP TIME, Y'ALL.

So this past week, I went to a screening of Man of Steel, and it was about as much goofy fun a I expected (ACTIVATE THE WORLD ENGINE). However, it turns out that staying up really late on a weeknight to see a movie wreaks havoc on me the next day. I felt like garbage and needed something relatively easy to make without needing a ton of stuff from the store. I knew there was a bag of lentils that had been sitting in my pantry for ages, so I googled around for a lentil soup recipe, and lo and behold!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound lentils, picked and rinsed
1 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes
2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground toasted cumin
6 slices diced turkey bacon
A PHANTOM DRIVE (Note: Not really)

Process:

First, dice up all of your veggies. I know the ingredients don't ask for a ton, but in this house we subscribe to the James Franco School of Cooking


Why don't you super size it 

So there we've probably got about five or six carrots, a whole celery heart, and two onions. Perfect. Now, I figured that since the original recipe didn't call for any meat, I'd improvise a little. 3 minutes in the microwave later...

Ahhh, now we're cooking with something akin to gas. Now throw in all of your veggies into a big ol' 6-quart pot and and let them sauté until the onions get translucent.

Then throw in everything else and let it come to a boil.

Cover it with a lid, reduce your heat to low and let it simmer for about 35-40 minutes. I had to hunt down my lid for this pot, and it turned out to be buried underneath a pile of empty grocery bags, and had been for a long time. It was pretty nasty looking, and then of course I turn it over and look at the bottom and OH GOD SPIDERS.

So yeah, had to improvise a bit there and use a lid that was way too big, but had the added benefit of having not been touched by nightmare creatures. After that debacle, it was time to figure out a way to forget about SPIDERFEST 2013. Let's check in with Superman for any ideas.

The man makes a solid point.

So 40 minutes later, let's check up on the soup.

That'll do, pig. If you want, you can blend it a bit with an immersible blender, but I only used it for about three seconds before I realized it'd probably be better without it. Ladle it out into a bowl and crack a little pepper into it (or toss some sriracha in there if you're feeling adventurous), and you're all set to go!

Verdict:

Oh boy, this one is a keeper. One and a half bowls kept me full all night, and the leftovers have made for great lunches for the past five days. It'd probably work even better during the winter. Pairs well with shows about the failings of American institutions.