Soup for Supper - A Quick and Easy Lentil and Spinach Soup

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Now that it's cooler, I've started to think about soups and stews again. I clipped some recipes this summer and I've been waiting to to give this lentil and spinach soup a try. Well, the weather broke two days ago, and along with cooler temperatures there was a downpour that kept me housebound long enough to test the recipe for this simple pantry soup. Having made it, I think those of you who try it will like it as much as we did, and end up adding the recipe to your regular rotation. This is a simple pantry soup and chances are you already have the ingredients you need to make it on hand. Despite its lack of meat, the soup is substantial enough to serve for supper. Freshly made, this is a thick soup, but like most soups made with legumes it becomes stew-like as the lentils sit and soak up the liquid in the pot. That can be remedied by adding additional stock or water as needed. Years ago, I would never dream of serving soup for dinner, but I've relaxed my standards in retirement. These days, I add freshly made bread and a seasonal salad to the table and call it supper. I do hope you'll give this soup a try. It is jam-packed with vegetables and it is delicious. Here is how it is made.

Lentil and Barley Soup

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...The bird's are back and that's an omen around here. No matter how terrible the weather, the robins and their bickering are a sure sign that spring is on the horizon. That doesn't push back the chill, but it makes it easier to surrender to the limitations of days that are often dank and gray. My real weapon is my stockpot, which I don't bother to put away at this time of year. Years ago, women in the neighborhood where I grew up, kept soup pots, some filled only with water, simmering on the stove to provide humidity throughout the winter. Truth be told, I think that spoiled me. The aromas of slow-simmering soups and bread baking are as much a part of my winters as the Christmas tree and pond ice. Our furnace has a humidifier, but on really cold, dank days I still make soup and let it steam my kitchen windows as it perfumes the house. Today was a bread and soup day. I adore limpa bread and while it rose, I toured my pantry. Actually, these days my pantry is a series of storage shelves whose content has to be monitored in a near-religious fashion. If I want to put something in, something has to come out. I had lentils and barley whose time had come and I decided to use them as the base of a meatless soup. I had no recipe in mind, so what turned out to be a delicious soup, was a pinch of this and that creation. I do hope you'll give this lovely winter soup a try. I took careful notes, so I can share how it's made.