Lentil Soup

The other night we were too busy to cook (childcare, etc.) and went to a favorite take out place for dinner, Cedar's Bakery, a Turkish place. They have interesting delicacies to take-away: a killer vegetable omelet, kibbe, these middle eastern-type calzones and a small selection of groceries. I happened to see these delicate little orange lentils and bought a 5 pound bag of them. Tonight I made a pretty nice soup of them. At the last minute (at the suggestion of my love) I put in a mixture of greens (turnip, collard, kale, etc.) and the soup turned out to be good and healthy. Since the Frankster has started eating what we eat, we've been trying to incorporate more veggies in our meals. This soup was healthy and balanced. We had it with crusty bread.

Lentil Soup with Extra Veggies
bacon fat (alright, so it's not vegetarian, lay off, gotta get the flavor somewhere), 2 T
olive oil, 1 T
red onion, 1 finely diced
carrots, 2 finely diced
garlic, 1 clove, sliced thin
lentils, little orange ones, 1 C
water, 3 C
mixed finely chopped greens (anything), ca. 1 C packed
salt, pepper, rosemary

Pretty simple prep. Saute veggies in bacon fat and a little olive oil until softened, add lentils and quickly saute them. Add water, spices and barely simmer for about an hour. About 15 minutes before serving, add greens and continue simmering. Serve up with crusty bread. We have crusty bread with everything. Atkins, go to hell. Oops - he's already there.