Old Testament beans, found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs, in prehistoric sites in northern Europe, which accounted for a significant part of the diet of our ancestors in the "pre-potato era" in Russia and were a significant item of royal income from the export of lentils, were imperceptibly almost completely crowded out of our modern cuisine.
If peas and beans continue to hold their positions in Russian cuisine, then lentils for some reason have turned out to be mostly Asian food today, appearing on our tables, rather, out of curiosity or for the sake of exoticism.
Few people know that lentils, like goji berries, which have the Russian name fenugreek, are quite “homemade” beans, from which you can make not only simple and tasty soups.
Not so long ago, salads, cutlets, and baked bread were prepared from lentils.
Lentils - in no way inferior to their bean "relatives" in nutritional properties, and even surpasses beans and peas in the content of vegetable proteins.
Simple and tasty red and green lentil soups - basic technological principles
The main culinary advantage of lentils among legumes should include the duration of preparation: peas, beans and other bean grains boil about twice as long, and require preliminary and rather long soaking.
Lentils are simple. It is enough to sort it out and wash and cook in a bowl without a lid for 25 to 45 minutes, depending on the variety used. Less water is needed for cooking lentils than peas or beans. Two parts of water are added to one part of the lentil.
Currently, the most common lentils are:
Red (Egyptian)without shell; this variety is prepared up to 25 minutes;
Yellow - ripe beans, without shell; it is cooked for longer, up to 40 minutes;
Green - These are unripened beans in the shell, which are called French lentils and boiled in the same way as yellow.
Less common black lentils.
If cereal is used to prepare minced meat, then it is boiled, subjected to a longer heat treatment, increasing the amount of added water. For salads, lentils of moderate density are prepared.
For cooking soups any variety of lentils is used, either individually or in combination: for example, red and green lentils are added to the soup puree, where the yellow variety is pre-cooked.
The basis of lentil soups can be meat or vegetable broths. In vegetarian cuisine, if dairy products are allowed, dressings are prepared in ghee, or dairy products are added to soups. In addition to lentil soups, tomatoes, garlic, and onions also serve. As with any dish, spices perfectly complement the taste of these soups: thyme (thyme), rosemary, celery or ground coriander seeds, sage, cloves and other spices and herbs are suitable for the nutty flavor of lentils. Of course, a bunch of spices needs to be selected taking into account the taste of the remaining ingredients of the soup.
1. Simple and tasty red and green lentil soup: vegetarian puree soup
Grocery list:
Carrot 120 g
Lentils: red -150 g; green - 100 g; yellow - 200 g
Rice, wild - 100 g
Onion 90 g
Broth, vegetable or water 1.3 L
Sage, dill
Hot peppers, red (powder), bay leaf, curry
Salt
Ghee 90 g
Garlic 10 g
Cooking:
Cook the prepared yellow lentils to a puree-like consistency, salt it and season with spices ten minutes before the end of cooking. Separately cook the rice and the rest of the lentils. Stew chopped carrots and onions in melted butter until soft, and then combine the broth with yellow lentils and vegetables in a blender. Kill and transfer again to the soup pot, adding red and green lentils and rice. Slowly bring to a boil, at the same time bringing to the taste chopped garlic, herbs and spices. Close the pan with a lid, remove it from the stove and after 15-20 minutes the soup can be served.
2. Simple and tasty green lentil soup: dressing with vegetables in meat broth
Product Composition:
Meat (goulash) 600 g
Potato 250 g
Green Lentils 200 g
Onion 150 g
Fat, culinary 75 g
Carrot, red 100 g
Greens (optional) 50 g
Salt, curry, black pepper and coriander (powder)
Water 2.0 L
Garlic 25 g
Rye sour cream and crackers (for serving)
Cooking:
Wash the meat, dip in cold water and cook to a boil, removing the foam. After the meat boils and the broth becomes transparent, add the lentils that have been picked and washed to the soup. Cook slowly, leaving the pan open for another 20 minutes, leaving the pan open. Add the potatoes peeled and diced into small cubes and start cooking the dressing: simmer chopped onions and carrots until soft for no more than five minutes and, seasoning with spices, send them to the pan. After a five-minute boil, try the soup to make sure that meat, potatoes and lentils are the most dense ingredients that need attention. Dressing the soup with garlic, chopped herbs, let it boil again, close the lid and wait about half an hour. Serve with crackers and sour cream.
3. Simple and tasty red lentil soup: clear meatball broth
Ingredients:
Onions, passaged 150 g
Boiled Red Lentils 250 g
Chicken fillet, chopped 700 g
Egg 1 pc.
Chicken stock (water) 1.4 L
Dill 50 g
Lemon zest 30 g
Bay leaf 3 g
Ground pepper (white) 8 g
Turmeric 5 g
Salt 12 g
Order of preparation:
Chop the pulp of the chicken with the skin thoroughly with the addition of onions, season with salt and pepper. After adding boiled lentils and an egg, knead and beat the minced meat. Cook the meat balls by picking the minced meat with a teaspoon. When forming semi-finished products, wet your hands in cold water. Place the balls on a cutting board and soak for half an hour in the cold.
From the remaining chicken bones, cook the broth. Dip them in cold water and, bringing to a boil, remove the foam to transparency, and then add fresh lemon zest, bay leaves, turmeric, pepper and salt. In a ready, boiling broth, cook the cooked meatballs (5-6 minutes). When serving, fortify with fresh dill.
4. Simple and delicious green lentil soup: pumpkin soup with apples
Ingredients:
Pumpkin, nutmeg 0.5 kg (net)
Orange juice 700 ml
Sugar (or honey) to taste
Thyme
Salt
Cream 20% 300 ml
Lentils, green 250 g
Apples (sour) 200 g (net)
Ground nutmeg
Oil (for mold)
Cooking:
Put the peeled and chopped pumpkin into a mold lined with foil and oiled. Sprinkle lightly with sugar so that the pumpkin is caramelized and bake in the oven until soft. Peel the apples from the seeds and cut into thin slices, bake them in the oven, but without sweetening.
Sort, wash and cook lentils in water, salt them ten minutes before the end of cooking. Drain the water. In a pan with lentils, wipe the pumpkin and add fruit juice, nutmeg, sugar and salt to taste. Cook for 2-3 minutes over low heat, from the moment of boiling. Warm the cream in the milk jug and pour them hot into the soup. Boil and turn off the stove, boiling the pan with a lid. Put apples and fresh thyme leaves in a serving dish.
5. Simple and tasty soup of red and green lentils with smoked sausages and pickles
Product Composition:
Smoked ribs, pork 450-500 g
Lentils, red and green 200 g
Water for broth 2.2 l
Potato 150 g
Bulgarian red pepper 100 g
Sausages "Hunting" 300 g
Cucumbers, salted 250 g
Butter 80 g
Garlic 25 g
Onions and carrots for passivation 350-400 g
Parsley and celery root - 50 g each
Pepper "Spark"
Tomato (paste) 90g
Sugar 70 g
Cloves, ground 10 g
Cardamom 5 g
Bay leaf 3 g
Greens, slices of lemons, olives and sour cream (for serving)
Cooking:
Cook smoked ribs, adding parsley and celery roots, washed and grated, to the broth. Season the broth with bay leaf, cloves and cardamom. Strain the broth and cook the lentils in it, first putting green, and after 15 minutes - red. When the lentils are almost ready, add sliced potatoes. Stir in finely chopped carrots, peppers and onions in a saucepan. In butter, fry the circles of hunting sausages and combine with stewed vegetables and send to a saucepan with soup. Sliced in half slices of cucumbers, send after, without squeezing the brine. Season the soup with spices, try. Salt if necessary. Bring to a boil, turn off the stove. After 20 minutes, you can serve, adding greens, slices of olives, a slice of lemon and sour cream to each serving.
Simple and tasty red and green lentil soups - tricks and tips
The taste of the broth depends on the size of the ingredients for the soup: finer slices contribute to the maximum saturation of the broth with extractive substances that pass into the liquid during cooking. Extractives help improve the digestive system, increase appetite.
Soups should not be digested. In particular, this rule applies to cooking vegetable ingredients. Prolonged heat treatment degrades their taste and nutritional value. But at the same time, meat and bone broths require continuous cooking to maximize saturation of the dish with extractive substances contained in meat or bones. It is advisable to pre-grind large bones so that they are better digested, after which the broth needs to be filtered.
When adding bay leaves to soups, do not forget to remove them from the pan in a timely manner, after cooking. Leaving them for a long time in the soup is undesirable. Bay leaves give the aroma to the first dishes for the first 15-20 minutes - after which specific bitterness comes out that worsens the taste of the broth.
