Eat: Kale and Lentil Soup

A few weeks ago, my friend Mary sent me a recipe for kale and lentil soup. She said she was surprised at how much she liked it and encouraged me to give it a whirl. I figured if someone enjoyed a dish enough to email me the recipe, it was probably worth my time. I figured correctly. The combination of spices gives this soup a smokey, savory flavor which can be heightened by adding merguez, a spiced North African sausage. Detailed below are multiple ways to modify this recipe to suit your tastes. I stayed fairly consistent with the original recipe from Feast , only substituting a pinch of Cajun spice blend and cayenne pepper in place of paprika.

This recipe also held the appeal of a new ingredient to try: kale. I had never even eaten kale before, much less cooked with it. Kale is a form of cabbage available at most grocers. It has full curly leaves and can be either purple or deep green in color. Kale is a great source of several different vitamins and minerals. It even contains sulforaphane and indole-3-carbinol, chemicals that have strong anti-cancer properties. You have probably encountered kale far more than you realize since it is also used to garnish just about every buffet in existence.

TIME: 1 hour and fifteen minutes
YIELDS: 6-8 servings
MY SOUNDTRACK: The Police

2 tablespoons of oil
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
3-5 celery stalks, chopped
4 carrots, sliced
1 cup of lentils
5 cups of broth
½ teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of Cajun spice blend
dash of cayenne pepper
1 bunch of kale, chopped
1 tablespoon of red curry
salt and pepper, to taste

Once all of your ingredients are prepared (get ready for lots of chopping!), heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add the onion and cook a few minutes or until translucent.

Next add the garlic, celery, and carrots. Cook an additional minute or two.

Add the lentils, broth, cumin, Cajun spice blend, cayenne pepper, kale, and curry. Stir, cover, and and cook on medium/low heat for twenty minutes.

After twenty minutes, stir the soup and season it with salt and pepper. Cook for an additional fifteen to twenty minutes, until the soup begins to thicken and the lentils are tender. If adding meat, do so during this second session of cooking.

Tip: you will likely need to add some extra water to keep the soup from getting too thick. ½-1 cup should suffice. Also, be careful not to overcook the lentils as they may begin to disintegrate.

Serve garnished with reserved celery leaves or curried yogurt (if desired, see below).


Variations:

Add ½ lb of chopped merguez or ham (Mary’s suggestion) to the soup near the end of cooking time.

Top with curried yogurt – ¼ cup of plain yogurt mixed with red curry, to taste.

Eat: (not your average) Pumpkin Soup

Earlier this week, after narrowing down my recipe choices, I called my husband to ask if he had a preference. The first option: spiced apple cake. The second option: pumpkin soup. Before I could even finish the sentence, Matthew eagerly declared “pumpkin soup!”. Thus began this culinary adventure. I was intrigued by this particular recipe because it includes several ingredients that I had never before seen in pumpkin or squash soup, like pureed black beans, balsamic vinegar, cumin, and shallots. Suffice it to say, this is not your grandmother’s pumpkin soup. What it lacks in appearance (dark brown instead of the soft orange I had imagined), it makes up for in rich and savory flavors. In the end, we both agreed (as did our dinner guests) that this soup does not actually taste like pumpkin at all. However, that does not mean that we didn’t like it. In fact, we loved it!

The original recipe, found in the November 1996 issue of Gourmet, uses Sherry and Sherry vinegar. Since I am not a fancy-pants lady, I did not happen to have either of these on hand. Fortunately, I found there are several alternatives. In place of Sherry, one can use dry white or red wine, vanilla extract (1 tsp for every 2 tbsp), apple cider vinegar, wine vinegars, or even citrus juice. I used apple cider vinegar but would only recommend it if you don’t mind the strong kick of vinegar. Should I make this again, I will try white wine instead. Similarly, in place of Sherry vinegar one can use red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, or cider vinegar.

TIME: 1 hour
YIELDS: 9 cups
MY SOUNDTRACK: Steve Martin & the Rare Bird Alert

three 15oz. cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup of diced tomatoes, drained
1 ¼ cups of chopped onion
½ cup minced shallot (or ¼ cup dried)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon & 2 teaspoons of cumin
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of black pepper
½ stick of unsalted butter (1/4 cup)
4 cups of beef or vegetable broth
16oz. can of pureed pumpkin (not pie filling!)
½ cup of apple cider vinegar
3-4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
Optional: ½ - 1 pound of cooked ham, diced

1. In a food processor, combine beans and tomatoes. Puree coarsely.

2. Heat a large (at least 6-quart) pot to medium heat. Stir together the butter, onion, shallot, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper. I added the butter first and let it melt before putting in the other ingredients.

3. Once the onion has softened and begins to brown, stir in the bean-tomato blend. Next add the pumpkin, broth, and apple cider vinegar. Simmer, uncovered, for approximately 25 minutes. Stir the dish occasionally to avoid burning along the bottom of the pot. You can check its progress by dipping a spoon into the pot; the soup should get thick enough to coat the spoon.

4. Before serving, add the balsamic vinegar and ham (if desired) and cook until heated through. You may garnish the dish with sour cream and toasted pumpkin seeds.