Lentils: A Favorite Underrated Dish

When I was a little girl, I remember sorting beans for my dad, making sure there were no rocks in them before he cooked them in a pot all day.  Now that role has been passed on to my younger brother for different reasons... Dad's older age making his once perfect vision very farsighted now.  So, Dylan now gets to dig for rocks, while I have learned to love cooking lentils due to their simplicity.  Here are my top reasons that lentils are one of the most underrated foods that should rank much higher in the kitchen:

1) They are much quicker to cook than other legumes.
2) Lentils are able to be seasoned easily, in a variety of ways.
3) They are available year round and are cheap (about $1.00 for a bag)
4) Lentils are so heart healthy.
5) Lentils are one of the best cold weather foods I have found.

Last winter, my Maw-Maw introduced me to lentils and I have since spent time experimenting with recipes for spicing up the lentils and bringing out the flavor.  Alas, here is my recipe for Spicy Lentil Soup.  The longer you cook it, the more like a stew it becomes.

Spicy Lentil Soup while cooking.  It thickens the longer you leave it on low heat.

Finished product... the perfect dinner for a cold evening.

Spicy Lentil Soup:

2 pieces of bacon, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped finely
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 bunch of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 can peeled and diced tomatoes, with the juice
1 container beef broth
1 bag lentils
Salt and Pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. Slap Ya Mama cajun seasoning

Start with two pieces of bacon cut up, three cloves of garlic, and one onion chopped up fine, and diced jalapeno. Let it cook for awhile. Then add one bunch of celery chopped up, 2 carrots, one can of peeled and diced tomatoes (with the juice), a container of beef broth, and the lentils. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Slap Ya Mama seasoning. Let it cook on low for about an hour. Fabulous!