Lentil Soup, designed to convert people to vegetarianism. Dedicated to my friend Linda Chandler.

My friend Linda Chandler said she wanted to be converted to vegetarianism, and if you're going to convert someone to vegetarianism, this recipe is one of the ways to do it.

Lentil soup is fabulous. If you've had it, you know what I'm talking about, and if you haven't, well, now's your chance. I don't know what it is about lentil beans but they seem to give you really good energy for the entire day. Also they taste fabulous.

This recipe is adapted (and when I say "adapted", I mean basically plagiarized if not for a few variances in ingredients), from a medieval French recipe. They used to eat quite a lot of vegetarian food in medieval times, actually. And clearly it didn't kill them. Disease, feudal wars, and a lack of sanitation killed them, but not vegetarianism.

OK. Forget that I just said the words "a lack of sanitation", and let's get on with the recipe, shall we?

(Really I shouldn't have mentioned it a second time, because now you're really thinking about it).


Lentil Soup
(Soup de Lentilles)

Dried lentil beans - 1 1/2 cups
Two large onions - chopped into bits
One large carrot - also chopped into bits
One large turnip (or several smaller ones) - chopped into little chunks
3 garlic cloves - chopped into little bits
A small bunch of parsley - chopped
Olive Oil - 5 tablespoons (Or more. Don't be shy - this stuff is good for you.)
2 tomatoes - chopped up
One small chili pepper - chopped to bitty bits
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine (optional - but it is really good. If you don't want to add it to the soup, you might want to just drink it while you're cooking)

OK. First, soak the dried lentils in a pot of water for about 2-4 hours. Make sure the water level is much higher than the beans, because they will expand. (That's the whole point). After the soaking period, drain the water from the pot, add a good amount of fresh water, and begin the whole cooking process. Don't ask me how much water. Um, I don't know. About halfway up. I'm sure you can figure it out.

Now add all the other stuff. Wasn't that easy?

Bring it to a boil then turn down the heat, cover it and let it simmer for 2 hours. keep adding a bit of water whenever you need to just to make sure the water level is slightly above the beans. Also stir it occasionally. It couldn't hurt.

Isn't it delicious? See? This is why Medieval people were so happy!!



...When they weren't dying from some horrible bacterial disease due to a lack of sanitation, of course.