Butternut and Red Lentil Soup

Sometimes the best recipes in the world are the results of improvisation.  This soup is just that.  We are concentrating on getting ready for Thanksgiving, which means a lot of things.  I can't help but think about what I am thankful for.  In a way, it's too much.  I don't want to even say.  But Thanksgiving day sums up so much of it.  I love being around family and friends.  I love just hanging around, I love the cooking too.

Back to the soup.  It's a combination of broth from turkey soup we made a while back and froze.  The butternut squash I got, just because I wanted it, and baked it.  Like a lot of things Kirsty makes,  it's a bit of winging it, so the recipe won't be precise.

This is an image of the baked squash.  It's pretty much a gorgeous saturated orange color.

Ingredients:
1 whole butternut squash
     halved, seeded and baked 1 hour at 350 degrees in 1/4 inch of water on a cookie sheet
1 quart turkey broth (unfrozen)
1/2 large onion chopped
1 leek white and light green parts chopped
2 Tbsp curry powdered
1 Tbsp ginger powdered
1 Tbsp garam marsala powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 pound dried red lentils

Saute onions and leek in butter and olive oil to a nice caramelized color.  Add the red wine to get all the goodness from the pan.  Reduce red wine.  Add to turkey and squash in a large pot.   Mix with the immersion mixer.  If you don't have one, either try the Cuisinart or blender.   Add spices and simmer.  We realized it was thinner than we wanted, so next came the red lentils.  I haven't seen these at the regular store.  We were at the Afgan market is where I found these.  They're tiny, relatively speaking, and a fairly bright (for beans) kind of orangish red.  They were about twice the price of the regular lentils, for what that's worth.  These lentils only took about 15-20 minutes to soften, and it's ready.  Salt and pepper to taste.  We garnished with spicy pumpkin and butternut squash seeds.

Jib Jab with Tim
This soup is one of those moments where everything just works.  It was so frigging good, especially the aftertaste, which was sweet and rich, I think the key is the combination of the lentils and squash.  I'm kind of excited about the butternut squash too.  It's a beautiful color, and a really sweet and delicious flavor, including the seeds, which we toasted, spicy seeds.

 Mom just had her birthday last week.  I'm not sure if she would mind me saying, she's 78 now.  Yep, she's still working.  I think she's talked about retiring about every year for the last 10 or 12 years.  She's a school nurse in an impacted school.  She still travels around the world, and out to San Francisco, where she's reading about a guy named Steve Jobs, pronounced Jobes. 
    "It's Jobs, mom. "
    "Oh, is it? Okay.  I wonder how Jobes got along with anyone?" 
    "I think some people had a hard time with Jobs, mom."

 

These are the spicy sweet pumpkin and butternut seeds.  I've toasted them in the oven, but these were done in a pan, and actually, now I think this is the way to do it.  Essentially, nothing in the pan, just the seeds.  Then add the seeds to the oil and spices.  That's it!

What's next? 
Yes, there are those peppers.  I've got a huge number of them.  I've been eying a bunch of recipes, and what I'm looking at is either exactly a recipe my sister-in-law shared for hot pepper sauce, or something with some oil.  The vinegar version I've made, thank you Jackie, and it turned out so good, and so easy.  I've got a couple jars in the fridge, one for Jackie.

The fridge is getting a little cleaned out, maybe to be refilled with Thanksgiving leftovers.  What a wonderful cycle.

What else? 
My cousin's twin boys.  Are they my cousins?  Or nephews?  I have no idea.  My cousin in Marquette, Michigan has twin sons, William and Daniel, or Bill and Dan.  They're going to join us for Thanksgiving!  I'm pretty excited about it.  They live in San Francisco, both fascinating and handsome and nice young men.  Their grandmother, my aunt Kallie was such a special person, and an important part of my life.  It's a special thing to connect, and have Dan and Bill for Thanksgiving.

Happy New Year Lentil, Leek and Spinach Soup

 

I made this recipe a couple weeks ago, after all the parties settled down.  We had momentous milestones; Sarah's 21st, Moira turned 18, and I turned 39 (just kidding- 39+), not to mention Christmas and New Years.  Lentils came to mind today, because I made lentils again, and instead of spinach, I used some fresh chard I sauted with the veggie broth, oh, and I added some super hot peppers I chopped up fine, also from the garden from this summer and a little splash of balsamic vinegar.

This a a perfect go-to recipe for after the holidays.  It helped me clear out the fridge, and it's comfort food and seems like it's good for you, after all the rich holiday food.  I particularly like this picture, highlighting my new pottery Sarah made at school, and the Christmas lights dazzling in the window.

See that red pepper?  It was from the garden, amazingly, from this summer.  I think I harvested it at the end of November.  The cheese crusted bread adds a bit of specialness to the dish, making it a nice light dinner.

Serves 4-6
Great for leftovers too.
45-60 minutes start to finish

Lentil leek and spinach soup

1 pound dry lentils
1 onion, diced
2 leeks sliced and diced thin, the white parts
1 red pepper
2 carrots, diced small cubes
1 quart vegetable broth
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 bunches cleaned spinach

Cheesy bread

1 baguette sliced thin pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

Rinse the lentils a few times, then bring the water to boil, about 6 cups of water.  Turn it down to simmer for another 20-30 minutes until the beans are just starting to soften, but not all the way cooked.  Drain out most of the water, and add the vegetable broth and bring to just boiling and turn it down.

While the lentils are cooking saute the onions, leeks, and carrots in the olive oil.  I like to start with the onions, and get them to caramelizing, then the leeks, just until they start to soften, and same with the carrots and peppers. 

Add the sauteed veggies and spinach to the lentils with broth.  In about 1-2 minutes the spinach will wilt and be perfect.

Cheesy Bread
spread baguette slices on a jelly roll pan
drizzle oil lightly over bread
salt and pepper bread
sprinkle with cheese
Broil for about 5-7 minutes until cheese starts to melt.
Serve with the soup.