I have heard a lot of good things about lentils, so I decided to make lentil soup. I used the recipe from here: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Recipes/story?id=7039586
When I was first reading the ingredient list I was really excited. I thought that everything would easily fit into my crock pot. Then I realized that the amount of liquid alone would fill mine without the other stuff. I thus went with roughly halving the recipe.
Thus I used:
2 chopped carrots
2 chopped ribs of celery
1 small chopped onion
1 large and 1 small clove of garlic
1/2 of a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
3/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
In addition I halved the amount of liquid and used half vegetable stock and half water. I also used half the amount of salt, pepper, thyme, and lentils.
I knew that I didn't want to spend a lot of time on this in the morning, so I cut the celery, onions, and carrots the night before. I also coarsely cut the garlic and then crushed it with the flat side of a knife. I then put these together in gladware overnight.
In the morning I added the first six ingredients to my crock pot. I then rinsed the lentils and added them and the thyme. I set the crock pot to low and left it alone for 10 hours. I then added the salt pepper and balsamic vinegar and waited 10 more minutes before eating. (I forgot to halve the balsamic vinegar from the original recipe, but it isn't something I really mind).
This was pretty good. I wasn't entirely sure how I would feel about the cooked tomatoes, but I ended up enjoying them. I haven't entirely decided what I think about the taste of the lentils themselves; its not bad, but it is different. Kind of similar to some type of bean, but I can't decide which. I'll have time to do that as I still have more than a quart and a half of soup.
One thing I've noticed about the slow cooker is how intense the spices seem to get, particularly for the first batch. I didn't add that much thyme, but I could definitely taste the spice. One possibility is that the long cook time strengthens the flavor. This explanation is supported by some of my reading. However, the spices float, so it's also possible that I just got a large amount in my portion today. I made red beans and rice (and will again soon), and the first bowl was a lot spicier than the rest. This might be the second effect, and it might be that I got used to the spice, so I'm curious to see how my perception of the level of spice varies in future servings.
When I was first reading the ingredient list I was really excited. I thought that everything would easily fit into my crock pot. Then I realized that the amount of liquid alone would fill mine without the other stuff. I thus went with roughly halving the recipe.
Thus I used:
2 chopped carrots
2 chopped ribs of celery
1 small chopped onion
1 large and 1 small clove of garlic
1/2 of a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
3/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
In addition I halved the amount of liquid and used half vegetable stock and half water. I also used half the amount of salt, pepper, thyme, and lentils.
I knew that I didn't want to spend a lot of time on this in the morning, so I cut the celery, onions, and carrots the night before. I also coarsely cut the garlic and then crushed it with the flat side of a knife. I then put these together in gladware overnight.
In the morning I added the first six ingredients to my crock pot. I then rinsed the lentils and added them and the thyme. I set the crock pot to low and left it alone for 10 hours. I then added the salt pepper and balsamic vinegar and waited 10 more minutes before eating. (I forgot to halve the balsamic vinegar from the original recipe, but it isn't something I really mind).
This was pretty good. I wasn't entirely sure how I would feel about the cooked tomatoes, but I ended up enjoying them. I haven't entirely decided what I think about the taste of the lentils themselves; its not bad, but it is different. Kind of similar to some type of bean, but I can't decide which. I'll have time to do that as I still have more than a quart and a half of soup.
One thing I've noticed about the slow cooker is how intense the spices seem to get, particularly for the first batch. I didn't add that much thyme, but I could definitely taste the spice. One possibility is that the long cook time strengthens the flavor. This explanation is supported by some of my reading. However, the spices float, so it's also possible that I just got a large amount in my portion today. I made red beans and rice (and will again soon), and the first bowl was a lot spicier than the rest. This might be the second effect, and it might be that I got used to the spice, so I'm curious to see how my perception of the level of spice varies in future servings.
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