Tomato-Vegetable Lentil Soup

I love soup and am glad to live in a place where we still have several months of serious soup weather. Lentils are way faster to cook than beans which have to be pre-soaked.

2 TBS olive oil
1 large chopped onion
2 ribs celery, diced
green bell pepper, seeded/diced
5 cups stock (vegetable, chicken, beef--wherever you are in the process)
3/4 cup lentils, rinsed/sorted for rocks, etc.
2 carrots, peeled/diced
1-2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
pepper to taste
1 large potato, peeled and diced relatively small
28 oz crushed tomatoes

Heat oil and add onion, celery and pepper. Cover and sweat over med low heat, about 8-10 minutes.
Add stock, lentils, carrot, bay leaf, and herbs. Bring to a boil, cover partially, and reduce heat to med low. Simmer about 15 min. Stir in the potato and a bit of salt. Simmer another 10 min.
Add the tomatoes. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, another 10-15 min. Add seasonings to taste.

This makes about 5 servings, and is adapted from Soup Makes the Meal, by Ken Haedrich.

Midnight Cravings

I crave flavors. Usually Japanese, Middle Eastern, and good ol' Southern USA (although I don't rule out any ethnic cuisine). Tonight (at nearly midnight) I'm really craving Lebanese.

I found a recipe on Epicurious.com for Lebanese Lentil-and-Rice Pilaf with Blackened Onions.

Not exactly holiday food.

Which is why I am making it for lunch tomorrow. With plenty of leftovers for the next few days. I'm already sick of rich holiday fare and I want something healthy. Comforting. Fragrant.

What flavors do you crave?

A little linky for you

Have you ever read this lady's blog? She set herself a goal to use her crockpot every day for a year. Some of her recipes, by her own admission, haven't been so hot; but others turn out pretty fantastic.
This morning, she had a recipe for a lentil stew, and that seems to fit our needs perfectly--vegetarian, and crockpot-able! This has Sunday dinner written all over it. For the less adventurous, 'garam masala' is sort of like curry. I suppose if you were in a pinch you could use curry powder, or, you could go here and make your own Moroccan spice blend, and that would give an even better flavor, I think.