Souper-hero

By day, I sit a desk, dutifully engaged in the pursuit of knowledge. After work, my secret superhero side emerges. I love exploring this brooding hunk of a city and discovering its faded glory.

I confess that Park Ave, East Ave and Downtown Rochester are my favorite haunting grounds. But every once in a while, I drive past my 'comfort zone', beyond the streets I know like the back of my hand. To the north, even their names are unfamiliar, Lyell... Dewey... Having gotten lost innumerable times, I use the Kodak Building as a beacon to find my way back. The roads wind around and bring me back to 'my Rochester'. Mysteriously we merge on to 490 - the inevitable confluence! Snaky yet steadfast, 490 encircles downtown Rochester. Overjoyed, my little Civic hugs the curves triumphantly. Woo!! Troup Howell Bridge, here we come! And so we make our way home.

Nothing like a bowl of soup to recharge the batteries after adventures on a cold winter evening! This week's highlight is a Lentil Soup - inspired by various versions of Moroccon lentil soup.

Heres what I did:
- Cooked yellow lentils / white beans till soft.
- Added ras-el-hanout simulators to hot olive oil ;) Cinnamon, bay leaf, cumin, garlic and ginger. Chopped an onion and sauteed till it turned transluscent.
- Added lentil-bean mixture and chucked in more spices: turmeric, black pepper, red chili powder, parsley and salt to taste.
- Simmered for about 15 minutes.
- Turned the heat off and topped with a generous squeeze of lemon juice.

Voice of experience:
1. IMHO - the last lemon juice step goes a LONG way.
2. Flavors intensify the next day.

The end result is a tangy yet robust, low-fat soup, with a gingery/peppery bite to revive winter wanderers!


Moroccon lentil soup inspiration:
1. Food Network has a recipe here. Unfortunately it didn't get favorable reviews :-(
2. Allrecipes has a recipe with the 'usual suspects' - tomatoes and chickpeas and the like.
3. Manjula of Dalitoy posted a delightful soup here. Excellent ideas - thank you for sharing!

I'd like to share this post with Alanna of A Veggie Venture for "Soup, Glorious Soup!" Perfect way to banish any lingering winter blues!