no carrots?! or CELERY??!?!!!??? wtf moment re: lentil soup

[NMDemDist2]

so it's cold and snowy here (like most everywhere else eh?) so at the store yesterday i picked up a ham slice and a pound of lentils for soup today

Mr. K calls and I tell him I'm cruising lentil soup recipes and he drops the bombshell, "I don't like carrots in my lentil soup and you know I hate cooked celery too right?"

:wow:

he suggested I call his mother for her recipe (they are lentil farmers after all) and I will but Dayum!! no carrots??? :cry:

[hippywife]

1. LOL!

Poor Mr. K. How is it over there, babe? We are buried here! Couldn't go anywhere without a helicopter!







:crazy:

[NMDemDist2]

2. cold, but only a dusting on the ground

we're only supposed to get about an inch and we haven't even seen that

i know you guys are getting hammered tho, hopefully the power stays up for ya

stay warm

:hug:

[Warpy]

41. We got a little over an inch here in the big city

because the high winds blew most of it right over us to be deposited on the mountains. Because it was in the teens, it's that light powder you can take care of with a broom.

Wow, it's up to eight degrees! Break out the bikinis!

[NMDemDist2]

42. we got about 6" overnight and today and we're up to 12 degrees

:woohoo:

and it's still flying with that light snow you described and is supposed to continue all night so we may end up with 8" or so

I am hunkered in until the roads melt off and hubby had a snow day so we're just hanging...

[Warpy]

44. Looks like we're topping out at 8

I just went to bring in the mail and the inside of my nose froze, so yeah, it's under 15.

It's fun to watch snow here when it's this cold. It doesn't melt, it sublimes right into the air.

[Denninmi]

3. Well, can you trick him.

Not that I would ever advocate doing such a thing.:rofl:

My ex-brother in law claimed to DETEST onions, an everything about them. Growing up, we always used MANY onions in my household, and we sure weren't going to quit using them for one person whenever we had them over for a meal, which was several times a week, since they only lived a couple of miles away AND were young and poor with 2 young girls.

My mother's solution was simple -- the onions were pureed in the blender with a enough water to make them into a smooth paste. As long as he never FOUND a piece of onion, he was fine. He always raved about my mother's cooking and always ate a lot, so I guess it was all a matter of psychology.

Ironically, he divorced my sister, and later married her (former!) best friend, who does NOT cook. So, I guess he gets no onions nowadays in any form.

Perhaps you could do the same to flavor your soup.

[NMDemDist2]

4. that's the plan and here's the hoot of it all

I called his mom and she uses carrots in her soup, and her 'secret ingredient' is freaking V-8 juice!!

i'm not going into town for a bottle of V-8

he can just deal......


:rofl:

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Okra

Sparkly's reading over my shoulder. She said "Okra. After that, he'll beg to have carrots and celery back."

[NMDemDist2]

8. ROFL

she's got that right

Sparkly>>>>>>>>>> :yourock:

[Stinky The Clown]

18. She's a very clever young lady.

:)

[NMDemDist2]

21. of course she is, she married YOU didn't she???

:yoiks:


:hide:


:rofl:


:pals:

[Lucinda]

6. Tell him to just pick around the carrots and celery

LOL

I don't like cooked celery either but it adds incredible flavor to soups and roasted veggies. I always add it and then push it to the side of the bowl or try to leave it in the pot. Bill loves it. :) But, not liking carrots is criminal!!

[Denninmi]

7. Or, if you wanted to be nice, you could "half batch" it.

Start it without the offending carrots and celery. When everything else is in the pot, and it's partially cooked, split it in to two separate pots, and add the carrots and celery only to your half.

Or, as others stated, just do as you wish and let him deal with it.

[NMDemDist2]

9. i think i'll just add the leaves, they'll cook down and still add the flavor

and he's getting carrots, i'm just gonna process them first....

[Lucinda]

11. I really think the celery in one form or another matters to the flavor

and the leaves work well. Good thinking! :toast:

[NMDemDist2]

10. OK here's what I did, results will follow later

1 med yellow onion
1/2 red onion
1 red bell pepper
a heaping handful of baby carrots

all processed in my mini food processor to mush basically :hide: and poured into my cast iron dutch oven with about a TBSP of olive oil and cooked off some

then i added a 1 pound slice of ham trimmed well and chopped bite sized and a 1 pound bag of lentils

added a small (12 oz??) can of mild rotel tomato/pepper mix and a can of chicken broth, about 1 tsp cumin, a good heavy sprinkle of paprika, dried basil, garlic salt and a couple of heavy glugs of white wine vinegar and worchestershire sauce and two bay leaves. added about a cup or so of water and she's cooking on my low simmer burner

it tastes good so far too!

[Lucinda]

12. Sounds like it will be wonderful!

I want some! :)

[NMDemDist2]

14. i just added a bunch more water

but it's looking good

and i got lazier with the celery, i left it out.....

[Lucinda]

17. Less to hide or for him to get weird about LOL

I don't know what it is about celery...but chicken stocks, roasted veggies and soups seem so different to me without it. Your recipe has a ton of flavor in the ingredients though...it won't be missed.

[NMDemDist2]

20. did it ever!!! had a bite, but not hot at all

turned out awesome!!

[Lucinda]

22. Ooo...I thought it would!

Did he like it too?

[NMDemDist2]

26. yes he liked it a lot and i've got enough for today's SNOW DAY

woohoo, no work and tasty soup ready to go

:woohoo:

[Lucinda]

29. Win/win/win!

Stay warm!

[NMDemDist2]

19. i ended up having to add water a few times so I added some Better than bouillion

OMG!!!! it turned out great, served with side salad and broiled sour dough toast

YUMMY!!

[Lucinda]

23. I want some!

:P

[Paper Roses]

13. Love Lentil soup. I do, however, use carrots , celery and onion.

After soaking the lentils overnight, I rinse and set aside. Slowly saute the 'Big three' veggies, add chicken broth(3 cans) and lentils, then simmer for about 2 hours. I know there are fancier versions but mine suits me.

A good piece of French bread and I'm all set. Maybe a salad.
The batch I make is suitable for freezing. I get 3 meals from a half bag of lentils.
I'm sure it would be more interesting with some ham but I have a problem with salt.
I find myself making more meals with beans as a base lately. Dried and canned. I love all except Boston Baked Beans. Too sweet and mushy for me.

I really like Black Beans but have no recipe to use them except 3 bean salad.

[NMDemDist2]

15. you should start a black bean thread

i'd love some more recipes for those too

they make great chili and you can pretty much sub them for any pinto/red bean recipe

[Paper Roses]

16. Good thought. I will ask right now. n/t

[eleny]

24. Hi toots...

What a fun thread. I thought I was going to bed and decided to peek in here. Now I'm hungry. What did Lucinda say? Oh yeah, "I want some!".

[NMDemDist2]

27. hey yourself

:hi:

:pals:

[tigereye]

25. hard to imagine soup without either...

that's pretty wild.

[NMDemDist2]

33. he's fine with carrots in stews and chicken soup

and he has complained of cooked celery before, in his defense

but they add so much flavor...... i need new celery seeds......

[tigereye]

35. hmm, I always just think of celery as something you have

to deal with! :rofl: It's just kind of there, but it does seem to add flavor- which is funny - since it's relatively flavorless, when you really think about it.

[Lars39]

28. I wonder if you could have slipped some celery seeds by him.

Sheez, just when you think you know somebody... :D

[NMDemDist2]

31. i sure could have, I eyed the jar, but they are soooo old I passed

I need to just toss that jar and get another one

:hi:

[tigereye]

36. yeah, those are one of the spices that tend to just sit

around and frighten you when you look at em! :D

We tossed a bunch of old spices - we tend to buy a lot of fresh curry and cumin as needed, etc. at the local Middle Eastern grocery. What a big difference that makes! Cheaper and the taste is so much better.

[Coyote_Bandit]

30. Thanks!

Not quite sure why, but I'm not a big fan of lentils. Your soup sounds quite flavorful. I'm going to give it a try.

[NMDemDist2]

32. it came out excellently, note I had to add a bunch more water throughout

and Better than Bouillon to kick up the flavor, so just dump a quart of broth from the get go and you won't have to do what i did....

[Coyote_Bandit]

40. Thanks. Will do

I'm snowed in right now. I'll have to wait until the great thaw to venture out and get all the necessary ingredients......

Meanwhile I've bookmarked this thread.

[NMDemDist2]

43. we just had leftovers for lunch

and yummmmmm

i journal'd this thread too so I can remember what I did next time :rofl:

[NMDemDist2]

45. if you're not a big fan and you have an immersion blender that might help

i so would have blended this up if i'd had a bit more time or an immersion deally thingbob

[Coyote_Bandit]

46. Yes I do

have an immersion blender. Thanks!

[hippywife]

34. Woohoo!

Sounds great, gal! Glad it all worked out. I have some lentils and carrots, and it sounds so delicious, I might just make it today or tomorrow. No ham, tho. Hmmmm.

Way to go, S! :woohoo:


P.S. Have you told him yet? ;)

[NMDemDist2]

37. no. and i'm not gonna ROFL

he LOVED it and i'm gonna just let him stay in blissful ignorance!

[hippywife]

38. Probably a good idea,

but I don't think I could resist. :rofl:

[NMDemDist2]

39. maybe after we finish this batch

:evilgrin: