Lentil and Potato Salad

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month is The Wimpy Vegetarian.  Susan is a mostly vegetarian (hence the 'wimpy') married to a meat-loving man.  Sounds like quite a challenge, doesn't it?  Susan has met that challenge head on, finding healthy ways to pump up the flavors of her vegetarian dishes and making things tasty and interesting enough that her husband began eating more of her vegetarian 'horse food' - alongside his meat - and even going back for seconds.

Susan and her husband are again able to enjoy meals together, and for the rest of us, The Wimpy Vegetarian is a wonderful resource for anyone who is looking to eat more vegetarian and meat free meals, with great tips and ideas on how to adjust those meals so that even the meat eaters are happy.  There were so many recipes that caught my eye, as I'm sure you'll see when you check out Susan's blog for yourself!  Here are just a few:

• Mexican Casserole with Quinoa
• Mexican Street Corn Tart
• Brown Sugar and Plum Pull-Apart Bread
• Chard and Quinoa Gratin (and this Chard and Quinoa Saute - there seems to be a theme here!)
• and because this one was a previous SRC post, I can't use it here, but I am definitely going to have to make this Mac 'n Cheese Impossible Pie.

When I saw the recipe for this salad, I just knew it was the one.  I had never thought to use lentils in a salad, though I love them in soup, so I was definitely intrigued.  I also had a potluck to prepare for and thought this would be good for that because it's a great make-ahead dish that gets better as the flavors have time to blend.

Lentil and Potato Salad
from the Wimpy Vegetarian

Ingredients:
Salad

• 1 cup lentils
• 6 medium potatoes
• 5 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
• 1 seeded jalapeno pepper, minced
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1 T dried parsley
• 2 medium tomatoes,diced

 Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook lentils according to package directions, just until tender (15-20 minutes). Drain and cool.
2. Cook potatoes until tender.  Cool and dice. 
3. Mix lentils, potatoes, onions, jalapeno, celery, and parsley in large bowl.
4. Whisk together the vinegar, oil and seasonings for the vinaigrette; toss together with salad.
5. Add diced tomatoes and toss gently.  Serve immediately or refrigerate to serve later.  Toss gently before serving as the vinaigrette tends to settle to the bottom.

Makes approximately 10 cups

Susan indicated that her recipe would serve 2 (I'm guessing as a vegetarian main dish), so I doubled everything, needing enough to take to the potluck and share.  It made a very nice sized salad, and I even had leftovers to bring home, so I was able to enjoy it with my lunch several days the rest of the week.  Yeah, it made a lot.

This salad turned out quite tasty; I really enjoyed the combination of potatoes and lentils. It is very good on its own or as an accompaniment.  Susan's recipe called for fresh parsley and rosemary, but I settled for dried since that's what I had.  I also used diced tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes, because I am getting tomatoes out of my garden now, and I wanted to use some of those.  Oh, and also used a jalapeno because I'm getting a bunch of those from the garden too.  As always, I think that's the best way to cook - use what you have on hand!

The only thing I think needed adjusted was the salt, so just taste and adjust seasonings according to your own taste.  Susan boiled her potatoes in well salted water (which I only just noticed when I sat down to post the recipe), and I baked mine in my crockpot, so I'm sure that made a bit of a difference.

An InLinkz Link-up

Lentil Garlic Soup

I thought for sure I had posted this recipe already, but when I started looking for it so I could make this soup, I realized it wasn't here.  Thankfully I printed the recipe in 2001, so I was still able to make soup.  Yes, I've been making this soup for a few years now.

Lentil Garlic Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 T olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 4 to 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 to 4 cups water, to bring total liquid to 8 cups
• 16 oz. bag lentils, rinsed
• 1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
• lemon wedges

Directions:

1. Heat oil in 5-quart pan.  Add onions and garlic; cook until onions are soft, stirring frequently.  Add salt and cumin and cook until fragrant.
2. Add broth, water, and lentils; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.  Add tomatoes and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes more.
3. Serve with lemon wedges and crackers.

I really like this soup.  It's simple and tasty.  I especially like it after it's been cooled and then reheated.  It gets thicker and better each time.

Definitely do not forget the lemon wedges.  They add the perfect finishing touch to the soup.  Just squeeze the juice over your soup and drop the wedge in.  So good!

Lentil Barley Soup

I found this soup recipe in my Sunday (or Wednesday) paper - at the same time I found the Sweet Potato Chickpea soup that we loved. 

Lentil Barley Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• 1/4teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups lentils (about 16 ounces)
• 3/4 cup barley
• 8 cups broth (vegetable, chicken, beef, whatever you have or like)
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1.  Heat olive oil in large saucepan (6 qt.) over medium heat; add onion, garlic and celery and cook until onion begins to soften and become translucent.  Add carrots and continue cooking 1-2 minutes; add seasonings (except salt) and stir to coat vegetables; allow to cook for a few minutes, until fragrant.
2. Add lentils, barley, and broth; bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally until lentils and barley are tender. Add additional stock or water to reach desired consistency, if needed. Add salt to taste.

Alternate (original) Directions:
Place all ingredients, except salt (and olive oil - there was no olive oil in original recipe), in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 45 to 55 minutes, stirring occasionally until lentils and barley are tender. Add additional stock or water to reach desired consistency, if needed. Add salt to taste.

To prepare ahead: You can prepare the soup up to two days ahead. Cool, cover and refrigerate. Reheat when ready to serve.

Yes, I know the original directions sound simpler, and I'm sure the soup will turn out just fine following them.  I just think it adds some extra flavor to cook the vegetables in olive oil first, and to cook the seasonings with them for a couple minutes.  If you're in a hurry or just don't feel like messing with it - don't.  Just toss everything in and cook!

With most soups it is best to prepare ahead, cool, cover and refrigerate, and reheat before serving, but this is one you can serve right away!  It turned out really thick, so I'm thinking I might need to add additional water when I reheat it, but it was perfect tonight.   The flavors were just so good!  Part of the flavors come from whatever broth you use (I used half broth from a deer roast I had cooked and half turkey broth) - so if your broth is good, your soup will be good - but the seasonings in this are really good themselves.  I loved the texture - barley is one of my new favorite things!

I wasn't sure what to serve this with.  Soup usually calls for crackers, bread, biscuits, cornbread, something - but I wasn't sure what this particular soup needed.  I went with toasted whole grain sourdough, which was good, but I'm not sure this soup really needs anything.  It was good all on its own.

I definitely plan to make this one again!

Update: This soup really thickened up after being refrigerated, so I needed to add a cup of water when I reheated.  It also needed a bit of additional salt once the water was added.  I still think it's really good.  My husband said it was 'OK' so I don't think he's a huge fan - but he did eat it.