Lentil Soup

The first cookbook that Michael and I bought together after getting married was entitled Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen. That pretty much summed up my feelings about cooking, so I thought the cookbook would be a wise investment. One of the first recipes we tried in the cookbook was for lentil soup. I was so excited when the soup turned out well that I have been making it ever since. Over the years I have tweaked the recipe a bit, and below is the current rendition of our hearty lentil soup.

Lentil Soup
serves 3 or 4 adults as a main dish

Ingredients:

• optional: 4 slices of bacon. To find a corn-free bacon, look for one that has just these ingredients: pork, salt, sugar, celery powder, and spices. I recommend a bacon I find at Trader Joe's called Classic Sliced Dry Rubbed All Natural Uncured Bacon. Another corn-free bacon is Hormel Natural Choice 100% Natural Original Uncured Bacon. Be sure that the bacon you use does not have any dextrose, sodium erythorbate, sodium lactate, or lactic acid starter culture.
• 1 medium onion, chopped
  
• 2 medium celery sticks, chopped
  
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
  
• 1 or 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/3 tsp. sea salt
• 1 cup dried lentils
• 1 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes. Try to find a can with only tomatoes, salt, and water, and without citric acid.
  
• 1 32-ounce box of Imagine Organic Free Range chicken broth, or 4 cups of homemade chicken stock

Instructions:

If you would like to use bacon, cut the bacon into 1/4 inch wide slices. Put the cut bacon in a 4-quart pot and cook over medium heat until browned and crispy. Remove the cooked bacon from the pot and place on a plate covered with a paper towel. While the bacon is cooking, chop the onion, carrots, and celery. After removing the bacon from the pot, put the onion, carrots, and celery in the pot and saute in the bacon drippings until the vegetables begin to soften. If you did not use bacon, heat 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the pot over medium heat and then saute the vegetables in that.

When the vegetables have begun to soften, add the minced garlic, basil, oregano, thyme, pepper, and salt to the pot and stir for a minute. Rinse the lentils in cold water, add the lentils to the pot, and stir the lentils in with the vegetables. Turn the heat down to medium-low, cover the pot, and let the lentils steam in the pot for about 5 minutes, stirring halfway through. Then add the diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and bacon to the pot, stir, and increase the heat to bring the soup to a boil. Once the soup is simmering, turn the heat down to low or medium-low, cover the pot, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Test the lentils to see if they are fully cooked; if they are still hard, cook for another 5 to 10 minutes. When the lentils are done, if the soup is too thick for your liking, add 1/2 to 1 cup of water. Before serving add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and stir to combine.