Happy New Year with Lentil Soup

Happy New Year!

Did you ring it in with a bang, or lay low and keep it subdued?  We just hung out at home - watched a couple of movies.  We're not big party-goers, anyway, and with the roads snowy/icy, it was better to just stay in.

As a matter of fact, the only thing that made it different from any typical night, was I made some lentil soup.  A New Year's tradition of my father's (and my cousin reminded me, of our grandfather's.  Her mom used to make it, too.  They kept their dad's tradition, as am I).

It turned out pretty good... but not as good as dad's.  If I remember correctly, he added bacon and I didn't have any. I substituted ham (of course... left over Christmas ham. There's so much of it!).

Here's the recipe (one I tweaked slightly from Allrecipes):


Lentil Soup

couple tablespoons of olive oil
1 med/large onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced medallions
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons of oregano
2 teaspoons of basil
1 bay leaf
2 cups diced tomatoes with juice-2 or 3 toms (or 1 14.5 can crushed tomatoes)
2 cups dry lentils
4 cups chicken bone broth
4 cups water
2 cups diced ham
salt to taste
2 tablespoons vinegar (I forgot to add this-but am including it because I want to try it next time)

*This recipe also called for 1/2 cup fresh spinach, rinsed and thinly sliced.  I think it would be good, but I didn't add it because they suggest adding it just before you serve it so it's just wilted.  Well, this makes so much and I'm the only one that eats it (freezer lunches), that it would be a pain to add it to every single serving, and I think it may get to slimy if I add it before freezing my pint jars. So... it got eliminated.

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery; cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in garlic, bay leaf, oregano, and basil; cook for 2 minutes.

Stir in lentils, and add broth, water, ham and tomatoes.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer
for a couple of hours.  *When ready to serve stir in spinach, and cook until it wilts. Stir in vinegar, and season to taste with salt (and pepper, if you want).

Pretty good, but I'll try it with bacon next time.



Are you making any resolutions for 2013?  Not me.  I'm not a big proponent of resolutions... at least not the New Year variety.

Something I want to get better about, though, is reading my bible.  Since I'm not in a regular bible study (used to be every Thursday night, faithfully, with "homework" during the week.  It kept me accountable)... anyway, since I'm not doing that now, I find that my reading is more sporadic than routine, so I'm going to try one of those "read the bible in a year" challenges.  It might help to keep me accountable and make it a daily exercise.  I hope so!

I'm joining Rachel Wojnarowski (blogger) for her 365-day challenge.

Today is Day 1!