Red Lentil Soup

This recipe is based on a recipe in a really good vegetarian cookbook I have called Fresh Food Fast by Peter Berley.

As you may know I can't follow a recipe, too many rules for me, so I'll give it to you how I make it....

It is a soup recipe with red lentils which are my new best friend. Cheap, healthy, fast and most importantly yummy! I know lentil soup is a wintry kind of dish, but just try it. It's so good that it surpasses the seasons.

Here it is:

Red Lentil Soup

1 1/2 cups dried red lentils, rinsed

1 large can diced tomatoes

a few glugs olive oil

5 or more cloves of garlic, peeled and de-germed

a few good pinches coarse sea salt

4 or 5 big slices of peeled fresh ginger 

a sprig of fresh rosemary

a good pinch of dried thyme (preferably from your own garden, it tastes so much better)

2 bay leaves

freshly ground black pepper

5 cups water

one lemon

Basically all you do is put everything in the pot. Wrap up your ginger, bay leaves and rosemary in cheesecloth or a teaball and pop into the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes to half an hour. You will know when it is done because it will be thick and it will smell amazing!

Take out your cheesecloth with the ginger and stuff and discard it. Smash the garlic cloves against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon. Squeeze the lemon into the pot (if you don't like lemon like JS, just skip this, it's great without too). Taste for salt, add more if you like. Serve. Yum!