Old Testament beans, found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs, in prehistoric sites in northern Europe, which constituted a significant part of the diet of our ancestors in the “pre-potato era” in Russia and were a weighty article of tsarist lentil export income, turned out to be a dis- the kitchen.
If peas and beans continue to retain their positions in Russian cooking, for some reason, lentils have today turned out to be predominantly Asian food, appearing on our tables, rather out of curiosity or for the sake of exotics.
Few people know that lentils, like goji berries, which have the Russian name fenugreek, are completely “homemade” beans, from which not only simple and tasty soups can be made.
Not so long ago lentils were made from lentils, cutlets, and baked bread.
Lentils are in no way inferior to their legume “relatives” in nutritional properties, and even exceed beans and peas in the content of plant proteins.
Simple and tasty red and green lentil soups - basic technological principles
The main culinary advantage of lentils among leguminous crops is the preparation duration: peas, beans and other beans are boiled for about two times longer, and they require soaking for a rather long time.
Lentils are simple. It is enough to sort it out and wash it with cooking in dishes without a lid for 25 to 45 minutes, depending on the variety used. For cooking lentils need less water than peas or beans. Two parts of water are added to one part of the lentils.
Currently, the most common lentils:
Red (Egyptian), without shell; this grade prepares to 25 minutes;
Yellow - ripe beans, without a shell; it is cooked longer, up to 40 minutes;
Green - these are unripened beans in the shell, which are called French lentils and are baked as well as yellow. Less common is black lentils.
If the cereal is used to make minced meat, then it is boiled down, subjecting to longer heat treatment, increasing the amount of added water. For salads prepare lentils of moderate density.
For cooking soups, any varieties of lentil are used, both individually and in combination: for example, red and green lentils are added to the cream soup, where the yellow variety is pre-boiled.
The basis of lentil soups can be meat or vegetable broths. In a vegetarian kitchen, if dairy products are allowed to use, dressings are cooked in melted butter, or dairy products are added to soups. Addition to lentil soups are also tomatoes, garlic, onions. As for any dish, spices complement the taste of these soups: thyme (thyme), rosemary, celery or ground coriander seeds, sage, cloves and other spices and herbs are suitable for the nutty flavor of the lentils. Of course, a bouquet of spices should be selected taking into account the taste of the other ingredients of the soup.
1. Simple and tasty red and green lentil soup: vegetarian soup
Product List:
Carrots 120g
Lentils: red -150 g; green - 100 g; yellow - 200 g
Wild rice - 100 g
Onion 90g
Broth, vegetable or water 1,3 l
Sage, dill
Hot pepper, red (powder), bay leaf, curry
Salt
Ghee 90 g
Garlic 10 g
Cooking:
Cook the prepared yellow lentils to a puree-like consistency, salt and season with spices ten minutes before the end of cooking. Cook the rice and the rest of the lentils separately. Simmer the chopped carrots and onions in the melted butter until soft, and then combine the broth with yellow lentils and vegetables in a blender. Perebeta and again put in a soup pot, adding red and green lentils and rice. Slowly bring to a boil, while bringing to taste the minced garlic, herbs and spices. Cover the pan with a lid, remove it from the stove and after 15-20 minutes the soup can be served.
2. Simple and tasty green lentil soup: filling with vegetables in meat broth
Composition of products:
Meat (goulash) 600 g
Potato 250 g
Green lentils 200 g
Onions 150g
Fat Culinary 75 g
Carrot red 100 g
Greens (optional) 50 g
Salt, curry, black pepper and coriander (powder)
Water 2.0 l
Garlic 25g
Sour cream and rye crackers (for serving)
Cooking:
Wash the meat, put it in cold water and boil until boiling, removing the foam. After boiling meat and broth will become transparent, add the moved and washed lentils to the soup. Boil slowly, leaving the pan open for another 20 minutes, leaving the pan open. Add the potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes, and proceed to the preparation of the dressing: simmer the chopped onions and carrots to softness for no more than five minutes and, seasoned with spices, send to the pan. After five minutes of boiling, try the soup to make sure that meat, potatoes and lentils are ready as the most dense ingredients that need attention. Fill the soup with garlic, chopped greens, let it boil again, close the lid and wait about half an hour. Serve with croutons and sour cream.
3. Simple and tasty red lentil soup: clear broth with meatballs
Ingredients:
Onions, fried 150 g
Boiled red lentils 250 g
Chicken fillet, chopped 700 g
Egg 1 pc.
Chicken broth (water) 1.4 L
Dill 50 g
Lemon zest 30 g
Bay leaf 3 g
Ground pepper (white) 8 g
Turmeric 5 g
Salt 12 g
Preparation:
Chop the chicken together with the skin thoroughly chop with the addition of pasted onions, season with salt and pepper. Adding boiled lentils and an egg, knead and beat the minced meat. Prepare the meat balls, picking up the stuffing with a teaspoon. Forming semi-finished products, moisten hands in cold water. Place the balls on a cutting board and soak for half an hour in the cold.
Boil broth from the remaining chicken bones. Dip them in cold water and bring to a boil, remove the foam to transparency, and then add fresh lemon zest, bay leaves, turmeric, pepper and salt. In the ready, boiling broth cook the cooked meatballs (5-6 minutes). When serving, vitaminize with fresh dill.
4. Simple and delicious green lentil soup: pumpkin puree with apples
Ingredients:
Pumpkin, nutmeg 0.5 kg (net)
Orange juice 700 ml
Sugar (or honey) to taste
Thyme
Salt
Cream 20% 300 ml
Lentils, green 250 g
Apples (sour variety) 200 g (net)
Muscat, ground
Oil (for the form)
Cooking:
Put the peeled and sliced pumpkin into a mold lined with foil and oiled. Sprinkle lightly with sugar to make the pumpkin caramelized and bake in the oven until soft. Peel the apples and cut them into thin slices, and bake them in the oven, but not sweetened.
Sort, wash and boil the lentils in water, salt it ten minutes before the end of cooking. Drain water. In a pan with lentils, wipe the pumpkin and add fruit juice, nutmeg, sugar and salt to taste. Cook for 2-3 minutes on low heat, from the moment of boiling. Heat the cream in the milk jug and pour it hot in the soup. Boil and turn off the stove, boil a pot lid. Apples and fresh leaves of thyme put in a dish when serving.
5. Simple and tasty soup of red and green lentils with smoked sausages and pickles
Composition of products:
Smoked ribs, pork 450-500 g
Lentils, red and green 200 g
Water for broth 2.2 l
Potato 150 g
Bulgarian red pepper 100 g
Sausages “Hunting” 300 g
Cucumbers, salted 250 g
Butter 80g
Garlic 25g
Onions and carrots for sauteing 350-400 g
Parsley and celery root - 50 g
Pepper “Spark”
Tomato (paste) 90g
Sugar 70g
Clove, ground 10 g
Cardamom 5 g
Bay leaf 3 g
Greens, slices of lemons, olives and sour cream (for serving)
Cooking:
Cook smoked ribs, adding parsley and celery roots, washed and grated, to the broth. Season the broth with bay leaf, cloves and cardamom. Strain the broth and boil the lentils in it, first putting green, and after 15 minutes - red. When the lentils are almost ready, add the potato pieces. In a saucepan, add finely chopped carrots, peppers, and onions. In butter, fry the circles of hunting sausages and combine with stewed vegetables and send to the saucepan with the soup. Send sliced cucumber slices in half, not squeezing pickle. Season the soup with spices, try. Salt if necessary. Bring to a boil, turn off the stove. After 20 minutes, you can serve, adding to each portion of greens, circles of olives, a slice of lemon and sour cream.
Simple and tasty red and green lentil soups - tips and useful tips
- The taste of the broth depends on the size of the cutting of the ingredients for the soup: smaller slices contribute to the maximum saturation of the broth with extractive substances, which become liquid during cooking. Extractives help to improve the digestive system, increase appetite.
- Soups cannot be digested. In particular, this rule applies to cooking vegetable ingredients. Prolonged heat treatment impairs their taste and nutritional value. But at the same time, meat and bone broths require prolonged cooking to maximize the saturation of the dish with the extractive substances contained in meat or bones. It is desirable to pre-grind large bones so that they are better digested, after which the broth must be drained.
- When adding laurel leaves to soups, do not forget to remove them from the pan in a timely manner, after cooking is completed. Leaving them for a long time in the soup is undesirable. Bay leaves give out flavor to the first dishes for the first 15-20 minutes - after them comes out a specific bitterness, which degrades the taste of the broth.
