Saturday, January 10, 2009

Happy Birthday Lentil Soup with Chorizo

It's my friend Whitney's birthday today and in honor of her I wanted to post about the most delicious soup she made Thursday night. Whitney doesn't follow recipes so she gave me the basic run-down, I typed it up, ran to the grocery store yesterday, and made it this morning. I couldn't wait another minute. I had to have it.

Whitney doesn't mess around in the kitchen and whips up great food with such ease. It took about 20 minutes to get everything in the pot, three hours to simmer and we had ourselves a delicious lunch (plus tons of leftovers for tomorrow).

(Happy happy birthday my dear friend, cheers to the year ahead and thanks again for the awesome soup!)

Happy Birthday Lentil Soup with Chorizo

2 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 t cumin
1 bay leaf
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
2 quarts chicken stock
1 cup water
3 links of chorizo, sliced (we used Garret County chorizo sausages that were pre-cooked)
1 1/2 cups lentils, rinsed
1 package frozen cut spinach

Saute onion, carrot, and celery in olive oil until tender (5-8 minutes). Add garlic and saute for another few minutes. Add salt, pepper, cumin and bay leaf. Add lentils, chicken stock and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and add frozen spinach cube. Cover and simmer for 2 hours (stirring occasionally to break up spinach), then add chorizo and simmer for 1 more hour. Check for seasoning, remove bay leaf and serve.

1 comment:

Jennie Butson said...

In honor of the birthday girl, I had to make this soup... Unfortunately, the only "chorizo" my local grocery carried were beef and soy... neither of which I eat... instead I substituted italian chicken sausage and I must say it was dee-licious! Hearty, healthy and yummy! Thank you to Colleen and Whitney for sharing!!