I’m still figuring out the Insta Pot and I’m still figuring out what fiber-rich dishes I can add back into my eating routine. Soup is always high on my list of favorites, so I’m using up that bag of lentils in the pantry and trying out a new recipe.
Delish.com has been a reliable recipe source and this lentil soup recipe turned out really tasty. Here’s what I did differently from the posted recipe:
I had pink lentils on hand so I used them. A note here. My DF Deb said that she has experienced problems with pink lentils burning in the Insta Pot. I’m such a newbie, I didn’t even know that was a possibility!
This recipe does not call for rinsing or soaking the lentils, but the bag does call for rinsing. I poured the bag into a bowl of water and they turned into cement by the time I got to them. I had to chip them out. Maybe that extra time in the water prevented burning? I don’t know, but just caution.
The recipe calls for 1 ½ cups of lentils, but the bag holds two cups. I used the entire bag and increased the vegetable broth from four cups to six.
In place of Italian seasoning, I used oregano. In place of fresh thyme, I used dried. Garlic was reduced from three cloves to one.
Hub’s garden has produced some lovely beets and I never throw away the tops. I triple wash them, air dry and freeze in a zip lock. The beet greens subbed nicely for spinach.
You can tell from this photo that the early morning light was streaming in and I made this soup early. Which was a problem. Because it smelled so wonderful, I didn’t wait until lunch to eat it.
Leftover soup the next day was delish, but a lot of the liquid had soaked up and I needed to add water. Another note is that these lentils sort of turn to mush and make almost a blended bisque. That’s absolutely fine with me, but not everyone’s lentil cup of tea.
This recipe made enough for two days’ lunch and three batches in the freezer. Perfect.
Speaking of DF Deb, she recently had new backsplash tile installed in her kitchen and shared the pics. Wow, it is just stunning.
What I’m Reading
Do you remember the popular and award-winning movie, The Last Picture Show? Yeah, me neither. I am of the age that I was too young when it came out to see it with its racy R rating and it was too passé by the time I was old enough to see it.
I never knew it was written by one of my favs, Larry McMurtry. Gees, the list of things I don’t know…
I checked it out on audio and of course, I loved it. It’s much like his Leaving Cheyenne. He certainly has a style. Recommend. Umm, if you kind of like raunchy, that is.
In print, I read the first of a series new to me: Felix Castor. The Devil You Know by Mike Carey features Felix, “Fix” who is a bad boy exorcist in London. And he’s a detective. What’s not to like, right??
Fix is comparable to my beloved Harry Dresden. I will be finishing this series for sure. Loved the first book.
Working around the house, doing errands and get chores done on a week off from work. Man, that went by in a minute. I hope your week was good and your weekend is wonderful.