Rainy Day Lentil Soup

People have strong opinions about lentils, for some reason. They seem pretty unassuming to me, but some folks intensely dislike them, while others could eat them every day without complaint. I like the small, green French lentils best. They tend to be less mushy when cooked, and the flavor is a bit less… brown. More fresh and zippy, maybe. Anyway, use whatever lentils you like for this recipe.

The most important property of these diminutive pulses, in my opinion, is that they go from dry in your cupboard to cooked on the table in less than an hour. That is no small feat for a dried legume! If I start thinking about lunch at eleven, I can have this soup ready pretty close to noon. Yes, it takes more time than setting out yogurt and granola or slapping together some sandwiches, but some days, you just need soup! I do, anyway. And on a rainy weekday, this lentil soup full of veggies from the garden is so very satisfying.

I learned a few tricks about lentil soup from Elisabeth Luard in her book, “Family Life.” She drops a soft-boiled egg into each bowl of soup and drizzles some olive oil with paprika and cumin over the top. It sounds so strange, yet it is a delightful combination of flavors and textures! These additions make a homely lentil soup into something special. My family prefers poached eggs to boiled, so there are fewer “chunks” in one’s soup. In fact, when my eight year-old poached eggs to go in our soup a few days ago, I realized with a bit of a shock that he doesn’t know how to cook eggs any other way! What eight year-old would poach eggs instead of boiling or frying them? Mine, apparently. He thinks it’s great fun!

Method

Gather your ingredients. You will need an onion, a couple cloves of garlic, some carrots with their tops (or other garden greens: beet tops, spinach, or what have you), olive oil, salt, pepper, a few whole cloves, fresh or dried parsley, and of course, lentils! Optional toppings include additional olive oil with sweet paprika and ground cumin, and/or poached eggs: 1 per person.

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Peel and chop the onion, and sauté it gently for about 5 minutes. Mince the garlic and add it to the onion, stirring for about half a minute until it begins to take color and emit a wonderful aroma. Immediately add the lentils, sliced carrots and their tops, water, olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley, and cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer about 30-40 minutes or until the lentils are cooked. Check for seasoning and add more salt or pepper if needed.

To serve: ladle soup into bowls. Top each bowl with a poached or soft-boiled egg. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a small dish. Work in paprika and cumin, stirring to combine. Drizzle a teaspoon or two of oil over each bowl of soup.

How to Poach Eggs

• Pour water into a small saucepan so that it is about an inch deep. Cover and bring to a boil.
• While the water is heating, set out eggs, one per person, as well as a small bowl or measuring cup.
• When the water boils, turn it down to a simmer. Crack one egg into the small bowl, carefully so as not to break the yolk. Slip the egg out of the bowl and into the simmering water.
• Cook for one to two minutes, until the white is opaque but the yolk is still runny. Use a slotted spoon to remove egg from the water. You may cook more than one egg at a time; just keep in mind which one went in first!

Now go forth and poach ye some eggs!