Soup of the week

**This post has 2 soups, this week's and last.**

This week we had Lentil Soup. I'm trying to come up with a more creative name for it since it's not anything like the mushy, gross stuff I had to eat as a child and that name conjures up all kinds of memories. So I think I'm going to call it Creamed Veggie Lentil. Or something like that.

So here you go:

Creamed Veggie Lentil
Serves: 4-6
Time: 1-2 hours

25g butter
1 TBS veg oil
2 large carrots
2 onions
2 celery sticks, diced
175g or 6oz red lentils (or green lentils)
2 pints of chicken or veggie stock
salt and pepper
5 fl oz milk or cream

4-6 pieces of bacon, optional

Melt butter with oil in large pot, add diced vegetables (and bacon, if using). Cook for 2 minutes, add lentils and cook for 2 minutes. Add stock and bring to simmer. Simmer on low heat for 45-60 minutes until lentils are tender. Season to taste. Liquidize if you prefer. Add milk or cream.

Results: Scrumptious and healthy! I don't like regular lentil soup because I think they have a strange consistency and absorb too much liquid and it just becomes mush. That being said, liquidizing the soup totally fixes that. And the flavor is really nice. The best thing about this recipe though is that you can stick whatever vegetables in it that you want. I didn't have any celery but had some potatoes that needed to get used. I've had a version of it with apples and green lentils. It's really up to you what you stick in. Oh, and I didn't put any cream or milk in at the end, it didn't need it. I doubled the recipe so as to have plenty of leftovers. The lady that gave me the recipe makes quadruple batches at a time then freezes it to have on hand. I'll do that someday when I have a pot big enough.

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Last week's soup:

Chicken Stew with Cornmeal Dumplings
Serves: 4-6
Time: 1-2 hours

1 14oz can chicken broth
1 10oz package frozen mixed veggies
1 cup frozen small whole onions
1/2 cup water
2 tsp snipped fresh (or 1/2 tsp dried) basil, oregano, or dill
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 cup milk
1/3 cup flour
2 cups cubed cooked chicken

-In a large saucepan combine broth, frozen veggies, onions, water, herbs, salt, garlic powder and pepper. Bring to boiling.
-Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine milk and flour, stir into veggie mixture. Stir in chicken. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.
-Drop dumpling dough from a tablespoon in to 4-8 mounds on top of the bubbling stew. Simmer, covered (do not lift cover), over low heat for 10-12 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into a dumplings comes out clean.

Cornmeal Dumplings
In a bowl stir together 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1/3 cup cup yellow cornmeal, 1 tsp baking powder, and a dash of black pepper. In a small bowl combine 1 beaten egg, 2 TBS milk, and 2 TBS cooking oil. Add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork until just combined.

Results: Yummy and the dumplings were a nice alternative to rolls or bread which we usually have with our soups. Although, I didn't quite stick to the recipe. I didn't cook the chicken before hand, I put several breasts (frozen) straight into the liquid (which I doubled) and herbs/seasoning and sliced fresh onions (rather than the frozen baby ones) and let it simmer and cook for about an hour. Then I broke the chicken up with a fork and dumped some handfuls of frozen veggies in and let that simmer for another 30-45 minutes then put the dumplings in. I bought a bag of veg that had broccoli, carrots, peas, corn and red pepper (we hate the mixed veggies with lima beans...yuck!).