We made this last week with some stock from the freezer that we made out of turkey necks. This is a variation on a dish from Ruby's Restaurant on the Ave in Seattle, WA. I used to work there when I was a graduate student at UW. The food was really delicious, simple, and cheap. Here's my version of the recipe:
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 medium onion
1 large carrot
1-2 celery stalks
2 cloves garlic minced
1 small bag red lentils (16 oz.)
small bag baby spinach
½ lb green beans – whole or halved
1 lg red bell pepper cut into slices
1 block tofu cubed
cumin seeds
sea salt or kosher salt to taste
fresh ground pepper
8 oz container plain yogurt
small bunch fresh mint chopped
1 lemon
Add minced garlic and cumin seeds to olive oil over medium heat until cumin becomes fragrant and garlic begins to turn slightly golden. Add finely chopped carrot, onion, and celery to pot. Saute for 5-10 minutes until onions are translucent and carrots become slightly tender. (If you add salt now, it will help bring out the flavor of the veggies. If you add it at the end, it just makes everything taste salty.) Add 6 cups of water or veggie stock, salt and lentils. Bring pot to a boil, then turn heat down to medium-low and simmer until tender. Lentils will take about 30 minutes to cook - after fifteen minutes add green beans, sliced pepper and cubed tofu or minced chicken thighs and ¾ of the mint. Stir the rest of the mint in with the yogurt and set aside. Place a handful of fresh baby spinach in each soup bowl. When soup is ready, pour over spinach, top with a spoonful of minted yogurt and serve with a wedge of fresh lemon. Mmmmmmm.
