lentil persuasion

My husband hates lentils. I’m not sure why. Perhaps they fill him with dread, owing to visions of hippies singing and braiding each other's hair. Perhaps the vegetarian connotations - namely lentil burgers - frighten him. Perhaps the small round brown nondescriptness of the lentil scares him like a mouse scares an elephant. He hates them.

Nonetheless, they’re healthy, cheap, and I still occasionally try to convince him that lentils are only here to do him good. Wednesday night was such a night – I had evil, witchy plans of a lovely lentil and bacon soup. It’s a classic (see Delia)… but I love it as you can pretty much use whatever vegetables you like best (in addition to the noble triumvirate of carrot, celery and onion). The bacon was the lure on the soup’s fishing line: “Come here, husband, I taste of pork, you’ll like me…”

Lentil and bacon soup
(serves 2 generously, with some left over)

125 g lentils, rinsed well and drained
1 large carrot, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
1 large or 2 medium leeks, sliced (white onions are okay too)
125 g mushrooms, chopped
1 large clove garlic, chopped
3 spring onions, chopped
4 stalks’ worth of fresh thyme, chopped
1 litre of vegetable or chicken stock
2-3 tbsp of natural yogurt
5 sprays of olive oil
salt and pepper
freshly chopped parsley

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the leeks, carrot, celery and bacon and sauté over medium-high heat for 8 minutes. Add the thyme and garlic and sauté for a further 4 minutes.

Pour in the freshly rinsed lentils and mix together. Then tip in the stock and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes, and then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt an pepper (don’t add salt before the lentils are cooked, or they won’t cook well).

Puree or blend the soup with a hand blender. (If you like to have a chunkier soup, reserve some of the mixture while blending, and then add once you’re satisfied with the consistency.

Serve in large bowls, topped with yogurt, parsley and spring onions – and bread, should anyone want some.

So was it a success? I’m not sure. He ate it all, and I heard ‘mmmm’ sounds. His comments? “It was nice honey, really hearty.” I’m not entirely convinced it was a winner. Maybe I should have used more bacon.

Update: He ate all the leftovers for lunch the next day. Perhaps I'm winning the war for lentils after all...