Forget it, I’m going to keep making and posting soup recipes until this stupid weather breaks or I die. Whichever comes first.
Slow Cooker Revolution is on a roll with what it touts as “Ultimate Lentil Soup.” I don’t really like lentil soup. I don’t hate it but it’s not my go-to. Jeeps loves it though, and he’s been killing himself shoveling snow so I wanted to make it for him. It didn’t hurt that the recipe called for bacon and mushrooms.
Well, friends, to cut to the chase: this soup is tits. Unbelievable flavor. I snuck in a can of black beans toward the end and the country-style texture of beans and lentils rocks. The mushrooms are killer. The chard is a treat. Bacon makes it all sexy. I stirred some frozen sweet corn into the kids’ bowls to cool it off. And they ate it.
As my friend Art said, “This is not your mother’s lentil soup.”
Ultimate Not-Your-Mother’s Lentil Soup
- 2 onions, minced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 4-5 slices bacon
- 3-5 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2″ pieces
- 2-3 large portobello mushroom caps, gills removed and cut into 1/2″ pieces (the gills scrape right out with a spoon. You do this to keep the soup from getting muddy)
- 1 cup brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 8 ounces Swiss chard, stemmed and leaves cut 1/2″ thick
Microwave onions, garlic, oil, tomato paste, porcini mushrooms and thyme in bowl, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.
Stir chicken broth, vegetable broth, bacon, carrots, portobello mushrooms, lentils and bay leaves into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high 5-7 hours or low 9-11 hours, until lentils are tender.
Stir in black beans and chard, cover and cook on high until chard is tender, 20-30 minutes. Discard bacon and bay leaves. Serve.
