R & R: Red Lentil and Vegetable Soup

I posted this over in Recipes but it was so good, I had to post it here too for those who do not visit recipes!  Made this for lunch today and it was very good.  A good way to try red lentils if you have not already tried them.!  Very tasty!!!

Will go back and clean the post above up -- copied and pasted and lost all of the "returns"!  If anyone knows how to stop the BB from removing the returns when you copy and paste, please let me know!!!!   I even previewed it and it looked fine! 

Also, when I do edit a post, I often have to edit it several times before the "correction" is actually made in the post -- very frustrating!

I will add this to my lentil recipe collection. Red lentils are not sold at my supermarket -- I used to get them at a health food store (which is no longer in business). 

I had lentil soup for lunch today, too, Pinky. 

This looks good. Thank you for sharing this.

saw-whet:

I will add this to my lentil recipe collection. Red lentils are not sold at my supermarket -- I used to get them at a health food store (which is no longer in business). 

You are welcome!  If you have a lentil recipe collection, feel free to share them.  I have just discovered them and I am thinking I will like them very much. 

We can get red lentils at the health food stores however, our Pick 'n Save has just started carrying bulk items including organic lentils.  They have the green/yellowish ones in bags like split peas too.  If you would like, I would be happy to send some to you.  Just pm me if you would like some.

Heck...we can clean it up when we c/p Pinky.

That's sounds so good...I'm always looking for recipes for soup & I'm glad you posted it here as I seldom go over toRecipes.

Thanks!

Pinky50:

If you would like, I would be happy to send some to you.  Just pm me if you would like some.

Pinky, thank you for your generous offer! I will look harder for red lentils. If I can't find them, I may take you up on that. 

I keep a bag of lentils in my pantry at all times, along with dried black beans, pinto beans, split peas, and the mixed "15 bean" type beans. They are easy on the budget and nutritious. I serve a bean soup for dinner about once a week. Lentils are a busy cook's dream, because they don't require overnight soaking, and they cook so quickly.

I would be happy to share some of my lentil recipes with you -- look for them here next week.

 Can regular brown lentils be substituted for the red lentils?  Do they taste different?

To me Red Lentils (actually pink) are milder than the brown. You can find the "red" ones in any oriental store and most of the time cheaper than in a supermarlet or healthfood store. I founf that they cook to mush so easily and don't.hold their shape like the brown or green ones..

I like lentils cooked with rice. Also Mung beans cooked with rice. You will have to go to an oriental store to find split Mung beans that have had their green hulls removed; they sort of look like tiny little yellow coffee beans and cook without pre soaking. Cooking time for split Mung beans is like that of brown rice; cooked with white rice they don't always get quite done and take about 5 minutes longer. Split Mung beans are more expensive than  lentils of any color.

Bumping this for Toni.

Grelo,thanks for the info about where to buy red lentils. I haven't seen them in years. I used to prepare red lentils as a sauce to serve over brown rice. They do tend to lose their shape, which works well for sauce.

I have read about mung beans but never tried them.

Thanks for posting this...I'll have to try it.  A Whole Foods recently opened near our house & I bought about a cup or so of them in the bulk section....had been looking for a recipe to  use them in....usually make soup out of the 'regular' lentils.