FOOD Winter warming lentil soup

Warm Lanmore Lentil Soup


Food and Wine
Redmond Cabot

Lentils are for hippies? No. Lentils are for losers? No! Lentils are boring? No, no, no! Lentils have had a bad reputation since ‘The Young Ones’ on TV. However, they’re full of fibre, folates, magnesium, iron, protein and phosphorous – what’s not to love about that?
Sometimes you only need to look under the stone in front of your foot to see riches beyond your thinking. This simple lentil soup is one. It’s basic, easy to make, delicious, warming, and nutritious. The key flavours are the ground spices and seasoning that interact with the beautiful texture of lentils. The zest of lemon provides a refreshing twist on this succulent soup.

Ingredients
>  200g split red lentils
>  1 onion finely chopped
>  2 cloves crushed garlic
>  1 litre veg stock
>  1 teaspoon cumin seed
>  1 teaspoon coriander seed
>  ½ teaspoon black peppercorn
>  Zest and juice of one lemon
>  Freshly chopped coriander/parsley

Method
>  Sweat (fry gently in oil on pan with thick base, otherwise burning occurs) onions and garlic in oil for ten minutes.
>  Grind the cumin, coriander and black pepper with pestle and add to mix.
>  Add grated lemon skin and squeezed juice
>  Stir over medium heat for four minutes.
>  Add stock and simmers for 20 minutes.
>  Check for salt and pepper seasoning. Add chopped coriander/parsley as garnish.
>  Serve with bread and butter.

Some wine with that?
I recommend the Chateau Beauval, Bordeaux, Super Valu (€7.49) – An easy-drinking Cabernet Sauvignon blend suited to many winter warming food. Good wine, great price. (Yes, even I applaud the supermarkets at times!)