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Well, the eggs, milk, and most of the butter were gone from the refrigerator in time for Ash Wednesday. Although they will be re-stocked long before Easter Sunday, I love the symbolism of beginning Lent without them.
Tonight's vegetarian soup will be home-made tomato with pesto and home-made garlic croutons. For those of you who also follow the Lenten tradition of Soup Wednesdays, what will you be serving?
Sorry, perhaps I should give some background. I thought that the number of people who responded to the Pancake thread was an indication that many of us observe Lent with its unique dietary restrictions.
In modern times, Lenten meals run the gamut, but there are some common threads. I think many, at least those who grew up in Catholic towns, are familiar with fish suppers on Friday, but there are other dietary traditions, too. The Lutheran congregation of my youth also observed Lent, and before Wednesday night services, we hosted a pot-luck soup supper. The offerings were mostly vegetarian fare, in accordance with traditional Lenten practice, but they weren't all vegan. Bone broth, butter, dairy, and eggs were acceptable and frequent ingredients.
My soup this evening is vegetarian, because my fridge has been mostly cleared of eggs and dairy, thanks to Shrove Tuesday's pancakes. Shrove Tuesday, celebrated in New Orleans as Mardi Gras, is a day of feasting before the penitential liturgical season of Lent, which leads up to Easter. Pancakes are a traditional Shrove Tuesday meal. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, marked by fasting, which is generally accepted as eating one simple meal, augmented by a small morning and afternoon snack. Good Friday is another fasting day.
So anyway, now that I've shared more than probably any of you wanted to know about Lent, I'm hoping that the food and drink lovers of C-D will share their favorite soup recipes. Don't worry about what ingredients can or cannot go into the soup pot, just share your favorite recipes.
I had forgotten about this soup. I made it for a vegan aunt of mine and we all loved it. I make it now whenever a recipe calls for cream of mushroom. (I don't use canned soups) I can't believe I forgot about this one, it's really good.
Ok, there's an Indian dish called 'Dhal' which is a side dish made of lentils. I sometimes eat it by itself like soup.
Very easy to make:
Ingredients:
- I cup yellow or red split lentils or mix them 50/50 (the finer the split, the less time it takes you to cook it)
- 1 big tomato, chopped
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 inch ginger and 4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped finely together
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- a small bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
Method:
- Wash the lentils and then cover them with water up to 3/4 of the pan, boil the lentils on medium heat until soft (about 30 minutes or so), Make sure to skim the scum off the surface every now and then
- Once the lentils are soft, add the chopped tomato and let it boil for 10 minutes more
- In a separate small frying pan, heat up 1 TBS of oil in medium heat, then throw the mustard seeds onto the pan until they pop
- Add the chopped ginger and garlic and fry for 1 minute
- Add the turmeric and coriander powder and fry for another minute or two but don't burn the spices
- Turn off the heat and pour the fried spices into the lentils soup and mix them up
- Throw the freshly chopped cilantro into the soup mix them up. Season with salt and pepper, and done!
PS: Depending on season, I sometimes would add chopped green mango into the Dhal to give it that tangy taste. Yummy!!
You can also try Jacque Pepin's lentils soup below, French style obviously. I make this often and would add left over breakfast sausage into the soup to pep it up (during non lenten season, of course!)
Ingredients:
- 4 different mushrooms: 4 shiitake mushrooms, 5 baby portobella, 4 black mushrooms, 3 oyster mushrooms (or whatever variety you can find )
- 3.5 cups of chicken stock or veggie stock or water
- 1 cup dried noodles (you can use regular eggless noodles)
- 1 TBS rice wine, sake, or any dry white wine
- 1 TBS soy sauce
- salt & pepper for seasoning
Methods:
- Clean the mushrooms with damp cloth, then slice them up. I like to keep the sizes different for variety.
- Put the sliced mushrooms into pan, add stock / water, boil them in medium heat for 15-20 minutes
- Add the noodles and let it boil for 7-10 minutes more
- Add the wine, soy sauce, salt & pepper for seasoning. Turn off heat, ready to serve.
PS: since one typically has to buy a packet of mushrooms instead of per piece, I usually make the remaining mushrooms into a side dish. Just stir fry them Spanish Tapas style: heat olive oil, throw 2 cloves of chopped garlic into the frying pan, then throw the remaining sliced mushrooms & stir fry for 3-5 minutes. Lastly add fresh lemon juice (from 1/2 a lemon) and salt & pepper. Yummy!
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