Lentil Soup

I took a loaf of bread out of the oven this afternoon and thought a couple slices would go delightfully well with a hardy soup for dinner. So I whipped up lentil soup with potatoes.


This soup works well for dorm room cooking. There are few ingredients, the chopping is manageable on a small cutting board, and once the sauteing is done, the dish is very hands off-- I left it cooking in the communal kitchen and got a little work done while the soup simmered away. Added bonuses: no fancy tools required (no blender or butane torch needed) + this recipe calls for only a few utensils which means an easy clean up (that's a big plus for me considering the dorm sink I wash my dishes in is as big as the sinks in the airplane bathrooms). Try it yourself-- just get everything going and then read some Kurt Vonnegut until the lentils are tender.

Left-over idea: place arugula and cold, left-over lentil soup in a sandwich wrap. Eat!

Lentil Soup
4 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium cooking onion, diced
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 cup dried lentils, washed and drained
4 cups water

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add onions and potato and saute with paprika, red pepper flakes, and nutmeg until the onions brown (about 10 minutes). Add garlic and continue sauteing for 2 minutes. Add lentils and water to saucepan. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low heat. Simmer for 1.5 hours. Serve with freshly baked French bread.