Mamita's Lentil Soup

Brrr! It's my favorite season of the year... soup season! Granted, I do make soup throughout the year, this is when my house really gets perfumed by sizzling aromatics preparing for simmering soup. And what better way to start this season than with my Mamita's Lentil Soup, or better known in our household as Lentejas.

Lentejas really take me back to my childhood. My Mamita (mom) would make it on cold days, bad days, or any day when a little bit of comfort was needed and any moment was made better with a steaming bowl of lentejas. I hope to translate this to my home now, and I must concede that I am succeeding! My husbands excitement at the mention of lentejas for dinner truly warms my heart and strengthens my bond to this soup. This, to me and my family, is comfort food at its finest. 

Start by giving your lentils a good rinse and prepping your aromatics. Lightly crush your garlic cloves as they will be discarded and its easier to pick a whole clove rather than pieces of garlic.

Add it all to a medium sized soup pot with 6 cups of water,

bring up to a boil and simmer until cooked.

While the lentils cook, chop up your bacon into quarter inch strips

add to a hot pan, and hear the sizzle!

Cook until crisp, then transfer to a plate with paper towels (keep the crispy strips away from hungry fingers or prepare to swat them away... cough *husband* cough)

While the bacon crisps up, dice your onions

then add to the pan and sauté until translucent.

Dice the tomato and cilantro while the onions cook.  I don't like to add stems to the Lentejas so I remove the leaves and chop them up alone.

Once the lentils are done, discard the aromatics, yay for whole garlic cloves!

Time to season!

Add the onions, tomatoes

and bacon, reserving 2 tablespoons for garnish.

Serve, top with cilantro and some parmesan, yum!  I like to eat this with a slice of bread and melted cheese.

Lentejas

1 1/2 cups green lentils, rinsed

1/2 onion

2 lightly crushed garlic cloves

1 bay leaf

3 strips bacon, sliced into 1/4 inch strips

1 onion, diced

1 roma tomato, diced

2 tablespoons chicken buillon

salt to taste

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

In a medium soup pot add lentils, 1/2 onion, garlic, bay leaf and 6 cups water. Bring to a boil and simmer until cooked, about an hour.  Heat up a large saute pan and add the bacon, once crisp transfer to a paper towel lined plate.  Add diced onions to bacon drippings still in the pan and saute until translucent. When lentils are done, discard aromatics, add chicken bouillon, and salt to taste. Then add the the sauteed onion, diced tomatoes and bacon (leave out 2 tablespoons of crispy bacon to top soup.)  Heat through, then serve in large bowls. Top with parmesan, cilantro, and reserved bacon. Yummy! Makes 4 delicious servings.

I would love to say we ate dinner at the table all nice and proper, but no. Real life is us eating dinner on the couch with Arya chewing on her bone in the background.

Happy eating Flowers!