Red Lentil Soup and Corn Bread

This is a yummy soup to serve on a cold winter evening. This red lentil soup recipe is from NY Times. I used red lentils because I think red lentils are prettier to serve to children than green or black lentils. The easy cornbread recipe the kids and I made to serve with the soup is from the budgetbytes.com web site.

Don’t forget to let the kids help you cook. They especially enjoyed making, and eating, the cornbread!

You Will Need:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt, more to taste 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pinch chili powder, or cayenne more to taste
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup red lentils
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 lemon juiced, more to taste
3 tablespoons cilantro

What to Do:

1. In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat until hot and shimmering. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes.

2. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder or cayenne, and sauté for 2 minutes longer.

4. Add broth, 2 cups water, lentils and carrot. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary.

5. Using an immersion, regular blender or a food processor, purée half the soup then add it back to pot. Soup should be somewhat chunky.

6. Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice and cilantro. Serve soup drizzled with good olive oil, cilantro, and dusted lightly with chili powder if desired.

Corn Bread

You Will Need:

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 large egg

What to Do: