Anything But Corn-Fed: Healthy College Cooking in Rural Iowa

This soup is easy to make and so good on a cold fall day! I ate it for lunch today and have made it for a family dinner. It’s one of the recipes I know by heart. The ingredients are:

1 cup green lentils

6 cups water

1 onion, chopped

2 tbl tomato paste

1 1/2 tbl flour

1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped

1/4 cup vinegar (I use apple cider or brown rice)

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper

olive oil

Boil the lentils in 4 cups of water for about 40 minutes. In a separate saucepan, saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat until soft, about five minutes. Add the flour and tomato paste but be careful: it will burn easily. Add the lentils and stir. Add the other 2 cups of water and salt and pepper to taste and simmer for about a half hour. While it cooks, mix the vinegar, red pepper flakes, and garlic together as a “sauce” for the soup. When it’s ready to serve, sprinkle fresh dill on the soup and spoon sauce into individual bowls (you may want more than the prescribed amount if you are like me).