Lon works in midtown and often buys lunch from Food Exchange, right downstairs. It’s a modern deli, a little fancier and more organized looking than the old-school NYC deli. It wouldn’t be special enough to blog about except that Lon has been raving about their Lentil Soup for months. He complains on the days when he arrives too late and they’ve sold out. If he’s still thinking about that when he gets home, he must really like that Lentil Soup.
About a month ago, still raving about the lentil soup…he started suggesting I taste the soup and make it for him. One day, he came home with a cup of that lentil soup, heated it up while I was sleeping on the couch, woke me up and fed it to me. Two days later, he came home with a four pound bag of lentils. He was getting serious about this lentil soup.
Tasting it just once, I made some mental notes about it. It tasted like a chicken base, heavier on the celery, with Cajun seasoning. That was my analysis and so I set out to test it. I thought it was pretty close from what I could remember and I couldn’t wait for Lon to come home and try it. His verdict: the flavor was really close, but the texture wasn’t as smooth. I remembered it being lumpy so I had just blended about half with a stick blender. Lon said it might have thickened from sitting all day before he brought it home. He explained that the texture he loved was mostly smooth with just a few whole lentils floating about. He also suggested taking the tomato down a little.
Not bad for a first try. With the second try, I reduced the tomato and pureed most of the soup in a food processor for a smoother soup, reserving a bit of whole lentils too. Success! Lon approved!
Replication aside, this is a wonderful soup recipe to have around. Left-overs keep well in the fridge and can be re-heated on the stove-top or in the microwave. It’s hearty and healthy, perfect to drink up for winter. Vegetarians can alter this soup with vegetable stock instead of chicken broth.
Lentil Soup
~makes roughly 12 cups
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or grapeseed oil
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 3/4 cup finely chopped celery
- 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
- 2 quarts chicken broth
- 1 pound lentils, picked and rinsed
- scant 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
1. Heat oil over medium high heat in a large pot (preferably enameled cast iron). Add onions, celery, carrot, and cajun seasoning. Stir until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth, lentils, tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook covered until lentils are tender, about 35 minutes.
3. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Reserve 3 cups of the soup in separate container. Blend the rest in a food processor. Stir the un-blended portion back in. Check seasoning and adjust if necessary (shouldn’t need). Serve.
Another serving option (more work but nicer presentation): Do not stir the un-blended portion back in. Keep them separate and ladle the blended portion into the bowl first and top with the un-blended portion like a garnish.
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Jessica, you are such a talented cook! I don’t think I could ever replicate a restaurant dish after just two tries! Lucky Lon!!!
i REALLY like the idea of using the unpureed part as a garnish. delicious and stylish. 🙂
Tiny Urban Kitchen, thanks! =) It really depends on what kind of dish it is. Some have taken me several more tries.
Grace, thanks! Pureed soups often don’t look like much so garnish really helps.
Huh. I work next to Food Exchange and would never ever expect their lentil soup to be good. Will have to give it a try. And then give your recipe a try!
I make lentil soup every Sunday in my slow cooker, so I’ll have to try your version. Did I ever tell you that I live in the town made “famous” for being the host of the NATIONAL Lentil Festival? Yeah. Lentils are like mayo or ketchup around here–they’re everywhere.
Emily, can’t wait to hear what you think!
EMC, what a healthy town! No fiber problems there. =)
This is a great recipe, I make lentil soup fairly often. To me the magic is in the cumin and cayenne. One thing I do is add fresh shitakes or some dried mushrooms b/c I don’t use chicken broth. Also, I usually don’t puree b/c it’s all good.
Jessica – this looks great and I hope to make a dose this weekend. Any reason you recommend an “enameled cast iron pot”. (Enamored of my large aluminum pot but I guess that’s different) Do the heat transferring / retention properties of iron make a difference in the outcome?
– Marcos
Bill, I love the idea of fresh shitakes but Lon would not. haha I have made this for vegetarians using a good home-made vegetable stock ( I like to roast the veggies first).
Marcos, you can do it in any pot but lentils will sometimes start to stick to the bottom if you don’t stir often. In the enameled cast iron (like a Le Creuset), it won’t stick as much. Let me know what you think of this soup. =)