Food: The Forgotten Legume

Who doesn't like a hearty soup in the winter? I mean, they make you feel warm and snuggly. I grew up on beans and rice, yes, I'm Mexican, but I never really ate any other kind of bean besides pinto (oh and Ranch Style Beans in a can and I'm not really sure what kind of beans those are...hmmm). The first time I was introduced to this forgotten legume was when Ethan (who is now 7) was beginning to eat food that was more complex and with more texture when he was about 9 months oldish. Who is the mystery legume, bean, whatever you want to call it? It's the lentil. Yes, the lentil.

You may have heard about them in the Bible (My Dad always makes the same comment about how the birthright was traded for a bowl of lentil soup by Jacob and Esau e-ver-y time he has it, I love it.) but really, that's about it. When do you ever see a lentil recipe featured in a magazine or on a commercial during Super Bowl Sunday. Let's face it, legumes have been out for who knows how long but you know what? Who cares?! They are amazingly good for you, hearty, and delicious (not to mention CHEAP!). This soup is made with linguica but can easily be made vegetarian by omitting the meat steps. Follow me along this food journey that will, like I said earlier, make you feel warm and snuggly.


Little Lentil Stew

Total Time: 45 min
Serves: 6 with some leftovers for lunch

Ingredients
evoo
1 head of garlic, peeled
6 oz. Portuguese Linguica, chopped (You can also use Mexican and follow the same instructions)
1 medium onion, diced (I used purple, yellow would go nicely also)
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced (I had red skinned gold in my pantry so that's what I used. If you have a potato that you can leave the skin on, by all means do so, I did.)
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
1 head of celery, trimmed, washed and chopped
1 lb lentils, rinsed
6 c chicken stock
1 t ground cumin
water

I highly recommend purchasing a Dutch Oven in at least a 5qt size. They are versatile and user friendly. You can roast, satué, fry, braise, pan fry... endless possibilities. The one I used here is a round 5.5qt Le Creuset. Pour about 2T of evoo in a large dutch oven or stock pot and sauté the peeled cloves until they have turned a little golden brown, remember to keep everything shiny. Add the linguica to the garlic and sauté until the linguica is cooked and aromatic. It's ok to have the bottom of the pan "colored" with bits. Those will add to the flavor later.



Once you are happy with the linguica, remove from the pot (leaving the garlic in) and add the chopped onion. Cook and medium to high heat until the onion becomes translucent. Add about 1/2 to 1 cup of water and stir up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Those flavors will make it WOW!



Once the bottom is cleaned up, add the remainder of the veggies along with the lentils. Sorry, onion guy shouldn't be in this picture. He should be long gone!



Add your stock and fill the remainder with water until everything is covered. Mine came out to be about 9 cups of fluid. Add 1 t ground cumin and stir until everything is well mixed. I didn't add salt since the broth alone is salty enough for me



Bring the mixture to a rolling boil and bring the heat down to a simmer. Simmer for 20-25 minutes but remember to mix about every 5 minutes or so (I did 20 and like to check it from then on).



Once the potatoes are easily pierced and the lentils are not tough, the stew is done. Mix in your cooked Linguica. You can remove the garlic cloves or serve them to your garlic loving spouse. Hahaha <--- bad garlic breath! jk Yummy!!!