Country Style Lentil Soup

    I always wondered why Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup.  I mean it's good, but surely not worth the entire inheritance  the first-born son got in those days!  Anyway I never had lentil soup until I was in college, and it has been one of my favorites. With it being so cold lately,  I made some lentil soup last week.  Ahhh, it hit the spot.  What I particularly like about lentil soup is it tastes great even without adding any meat. 

   This recipe comes from my Heritage School cookbook--I've been cooking out of it for almost 30 years.  It has a lot of tried and true recipes from the 5th & 6th grade students' families.   

  What I also like about this recipe is it's easy to tweak the spices to your own liking.  Sometimes I also add 1/2 T of Costco's No Salt Seasoning.  

Country Style Lentil Soup

1.  Prepare veggies:  

(1)  Roughly chop 2 carrots.

(2)  Dice 3 stalks of celery.

(3)  Dice 1 large onion.

(4)  Mince 2-3 cloves of garlic.

(5)  Cube 1-2 potatoes.

2.  In a large soup pan or into a crock pot:  

(1)   Brown 1 pound of chicken sausage in 1-2 T olive oil. 

(2)  Add onions and  cook about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. 

(3)  Add 10 cups of water

(4)  Add one 32 oz. can of diced tomatoes.
(5)  Then add 2 cups of dried lentils and all the chopped vegetables.

(6)   Stir in  the spices:   1  T salt,  1/2-1  t black pepper, 1 t oregano/marjoram, and 1 T dried parsley.   

(7)  Bring soup to a boil and then simmer for 2 hours or more.  If you use a crock pot, let it cook for 8-10 hours or low or 5-6 hours on high.

(8)  Taste soup and adjust seasonings before serving.

Crock pot:  You can also cook this in a crock pot for 8 hours on low after sautéing the veggies.  Add the seasonings the last 30 minutes or so.  Before serving taste to check if it's seasoned enough.

List of My Favorite Soups, Chili & Stew Recipes: 

Beef 

Grandma's Favorite Beef Stew  (My mother-in-law's delicious recipe!)

Just Like Home Ukrainian Borscht   (A Polish student  said this tasted like his mom's!)

Poultry

This is the Best Gluten Free Minestrone Soup!   (A recipe my son modified)

Mouth Watering Italian  Sausage Soup   (This is  my friend Debbie's recipe)
Mexican Fiesta Chicken Soup   (A recipe I got years ago from a Mexican cookbook)
My Thanksgiving Turkey Soup  (My very own special concoction!)
Gary's Incredible Gluten Free Arkansas Gumbo  (Given to me by a Bible study friend from Arkansas)
Jeannie's French Market Soup  (A friend from when my kids were little)
Southwest Turkey Soup  (From my Syre School cookbook)

Fish
Northwest Salmon Chowder  (From my Heritage School cookbook)
Almost Like Ivar's Clam Chowder (From my Come & Dine Cookbook)

Bean & Legumes
Vi's Best Chili  (A  Bible study friend's great recipe)
Bethany's Crowd Pleasing Tortilla Soup  (One of my daughter's friends special soup)
Country Style Lentil Soup   (From my Heritage School cookbook)
Kathy's Texas Chili & Chips (From my Come & Dine cookbook)
Spicy Cuban Black Bean Soup (From a store recipe card)
Marilyn's Make It From Scratch Chili  (From my mother-in-law)

Vegetable

Creamy Pumpkin Soup  (from Food Network)
My Favorite Gluten Free Pumpkin Curry Soup  (Combo from Food & All Recipes)
Downright Delicious Potato & Kale Soup  (From my daughter-in-law's family cookbook)
A Great Fall Soup - Make it From Scratch Corn Potato Chowder  (From my Heritage School Cookbook)

Asian

Chinese Chicken Soups  - Bok choy chicken, chicken & spinach, and chicken & cabbage (Modified from Internet search by our Chinese students)

Make Your Own Gluten Free Chicken Pho!  (Modified from a newspaper article)

Gluten Free Chinese Hot Pot  (Modified by a Chinese student)

Chinese Egg Drop Soup  &  Chinese Egg & Tomato Soup  (Modified  from a student's recipe)

Vegetarian & Gluten Free Tom Yum Soup (A delicious Thai soup) 
Deluxe Miso Soup (Kenchinjiru)   (Adapted from Internet search)
A Thai Mom Teaches Me How to Make Tom Yum Kung  (A student's mom's recipe)
A Vietnamese Cooking Lesson - Lien's Vietnamese Sweet & Sour Soup  (An International student's aunt's recipe)
Cooking Beef Pho for Vietnamese Students  (Modified Recipe)
Asian Curried Chicken Soup  (From my Come & Dine church cookbook)