Lentil Soup: Monastery Style Olive Style

You can read about this soup in this journal entry!

This recipe is pretty simple and very forgiving. To be totally honest, I am not entirely sure how to go about writing it down! It changes each time depending on what I have, how I'm feeling, and so on. But I'll do my best to give the basics and I encourage you to play.

You will need:

• 1 large onion
• 5 or 6 cloves of garlic
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 carrots
• 10 small potatoes (or 2 larger ones)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 cup of green lentils
• 4-5 cups of stock
• salt & pepper to taste
• parmesan or nutritional yeast (for serving)

1. Chop onion to your liking. Crush and slice garlic. Sauté the garlic in a soup pot with olive oil over medium heat for about a minute. Then add onion and cook until aromatic and onions transluscent, about 8 minutes (or take it till jammy & sweet, I'm not your dad).
2. Add thyme, rosemary, and pepper and cook for another minute.
3. Add carrots (cut into coins (or half-circles (not your dad))), potatoes (cut into chunks), can of tomatoes, and rinsed lentils into the pot and stir to get them coated in the herbs and oil.
4. Pour stock into the pot, stir, and partially cover. Raise heat until the soup begins to boil, then lower it to simmer until the potatoes and lentils are cooked (maybe 20 minutes, but keep an eye on it)
5. Salt to taste at the end. It's important to do this after the lentils are cooked, since salty water has kept them from getting tender for me in the past. Serve with cheese or nooch, a crusty bread, and a friend.

I AM NOT YOUR DAD!

Make adjustments! Add worcestershire sauce, deglaze with dry sherry, use a sweet potato instead, drop in a parmesan rind while it cooks, whatever!

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