Am I the only one fascinated with lentils? I am not sure what they are, but they are magical in soups and they are that food that you love to hate…like they are good for you but they also taste good. Sort of like when I was a kid and my mom’s good friend used to feed us peanut butter sandwiches on wheat bread…you wanted to hug her for pulling out the peanut butter (nature’s most wonderful invention), but at the same time you wanted to stomp on her foot for putting it on healthy wheat bread.
2 cups *French green lentils
2 tsp. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups fresh arugula or spinach, torn into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 cups veggie or chicken broth
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
salt, to taste
In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine lentils with 5 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until lentils are tender, about 30 min. Drain and set aside. In a soup pot over medium heat, warm oil, add onion and garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally, until golden, 6-8 min. Add arugula or spinach and cook, stirring, 2 min. more. Add lentils, cumin, lemon zest, broth and 2 cups water. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 15 min. Add cilantro and salt, stir and serve immediately. Serves 4. (*available at Whole Foods and maybe Williams-Sonoma)
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