Lentil soup

As a kid I didn't particularly like lentils. I guess my father didn't like them either and that's why we never had them. My experiences as a kid are limited to my cousins house. My aunt made lentil soup once in a while. I remember that it was made out of brown lentils and that we had to add vinegar to the soup when we wanted to eat it. The soup was very thick and I didn't care for it much.

As a grown up I avoided lentils because of the culinary experiences of my childhood ...until... My first encounter was a few years ago at the Filmfestival in Rotterdam. I was hungry and had only a little time. The little restaurant at the festival was out of any other food then lentil soup. So I had some and I LOVED it. After that I had some lentil soup in Turkish restaurants and tonight I made some myself. Here my recipe which is a fusion between Turkish and Indian.

Ingredients

* 1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 onion, diced
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 carrot, diced
* 1 tin of tomato paste
* 1/2 cup dry red lentils
* 3 cups vegetable stock
* 1 ts minced cilantro
* ground coriander seed
* 2 ts sour cream of yogurt
* half a lemon

Procedure

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add the onion and carrots. Cook for a few minutes, until the vegetables have started to soften, then add the tomato paste and the garlic.

Add the lentils and stock to the pot. Simmer over low-medium heat for 20-30 minutes, until lentils are softened. Then add the sour cream/yogurt, cilantro and coriander seed.

Freshly squeezed lemon juice is a nice addition, preferably immediately before serving.

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup: Tom kha gai

Ingredients

• 1 quart chicken stock, with chicken meat,
  
• 1 stalk lemon grass, white part only, cracked open with the flat side of a knife
• 3 kaffir lime leaves, fresh or dried, hand torn
• 1 (3-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 small Thai chilies, halved lengthwise
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 (13-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 (8-ounce) can straw mushrooms, rinsed
• 4 limes, juiced
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

Bring the stock to the boil over medium heat in a soup pot. Add the lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, chilies, and garlic. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and gently simmer for 10 minutes to let the spices infuse the broth.

Uncover and stir in the coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar, mushrooms, lime juice, and chicken. Simmer for 5 minutes to heat the chicken through; season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into a soup tureen or individual serving bowls. Garnish with cilantro. Be careful to avoid chewing the lemongrass, ginger, or lime leaves.

Yield: 4 servings

Yummy Jamie Oliver recipe: Zalm met olijven en sperziebonen

Wat heb je nodig:
4 zalmmoten (zonder vel en graat)
200 gr. sperziebonen
15 kleine kerstomaatjes
20 zwarte olijven zonder pit
(ik neem meestal wel groene)
verse basilicumblaadjes
peper en zout

olijfolie

Recept:
Kook de sperziebonen beetgaar
Halveer de tomaatjes en de olijven
Meng in een schaal de gekookte sperziebonen met de tomaatjes, de olijven en een handje verse basilicumblaadjes. Besprenkel met olijfolie en breng op smaak met peper en zout
Verwarm de oven voor
Neem een grote braadslee
Leg aan de ene kant de stukken zalmmoot (besprenkel met olijfolie) en aan de andere kant het sperziebonen mengsel

Laat de zalm in ongeveer 15 min. garen in de oven

Ook een aanrader voor als je mensen te eten krijgt! Je maakt alles van tevoren klaar en schuift het op het laatste moment in de oven!

Met dank aan Sylvia's Kitchen!