Lentils

Bacon & Lentil Soup with Vegetables

May 29, 2016 by The Partial Ingredients

Bacon & Lentil Soup with Vegetables

We have recently been finding some new hikes around town and finding some really nice trails. Over the last few months my fiance and I have racked up a huge wildflower photo collection along with some beautiful snaps of the scenery.

Lupine

California Poppies

Wild Pansies

Wild Roses

When we get home on the weekends from hiking we’re usually not in the mood to work on complicated dinners

Spotted this cool guy on the trail!

That goes for the busy work day nights as well–ain’t nobody got time for that! Enter: Bacon Lentil Soup to the rescue. The healthy lentils cancels out the bacon right?? Pretty sure that’s how nutrition works. Anyways, I am a big fan of this soup as it’s simple to throw together and full of good stuff. The bell peppers and mushrooms go great in this recipe which is flavored with white wine, fresh sage, garlic and spices. A pinch of cinnamon lends itself great to the flavors of the recipe. I like the bacon with this recipe because–well do I even need to explain why? You can definitely remove the bacon to make this vegan or vegetarian.

Bacon & Lentil Soup with Vegetables

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Ethiopian Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Curry

August 18, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

A few years ago I went to an Ethiopian restaurant and was completely taken with the food. I couldn’t remember all of the curries that I tried but I do remember the bread they served with the main course: injera. I wanted to recreate that meal at home so I set out researching Ethiopian curries. It turns out that the injera is served as the “plate” to place a variety of tasty curries. I settled on this red lentil and yam curry which I thought would go nicely on top of the injera. A spice blend of cumin, cinnamon, ginger, paprika and allspice flavor the curry. The sweet potato and lentils went together so well and provided an element of sweetness that balanced the spices. It was a really simple dish that tasted great with the injera.
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Red Lentil and Coconut Curry Soup

April 17, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Soups and curries are two of my favorite things and I knew I had to give this recipe a try. The flavors remind me a lot of Thai curries since the soup’s base is coconut milk. I used an Indian Garam Masala with Turmeric to give it a spicy, aromatic flavor. I toasted the spices with a few arbol chilies and ground them all together. The soup was really easy to make and all it really requires is a few hours for the ingredients to cook together. The result was a delicious and filling soup with nice coconut and curry flavors. The soup is surprisingly filling due to the rich broth and the high protein foods like chickpeas and lentils. I garnished a bowl with a drop of coconut milk, cilantro and sliced jalapeno. Plain yogurt would work great as a garnish as well. The soup goes well with rice, couscous, quinoa, or bread.
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Lentil Stew with Italian Sausage and Spinach

October 2, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

I wanted to kick off October with a good fall soup and lentil stew is a perfect fall and winter dish that is both hardy and healthy. I had never tried cooking Italian sausage in a soup before and I was happy with the results. The sausage became very tender through the slow cooking process. This stew is simply seasoned with bay, oregano, and balsamic vinegar. The balsamic vinegar gives a nice depth of flavor and the acidity is very nice. The recipe could be prepared over the stove in a sauce pot instead of a slow cooker, just cook it for 2-3 hours on low. The spiciness of the sausage flavored the broth wonderfully and all this soup really needs is a thick crusted bread to accompany it.

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