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Red Lentil Soup with Curry and Coconut Milk

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  • Red Lentil Soup with Curry and Coconut Milk

    I actually love to cook - I just haven't had time to add anything to this cookbook. Plus, when I look at some of the recipes that have been submitted, I realize that the recipes I like may not be shared by a vast majority of the members here. But, knowing now that at least one other person is a vegetarian (though perhaps not much of a cook ), I thought I'd add this recipe which I just made for dinner last night. I tend to like just about anything Asian, so if you don't like that flavor, you can just skip my recipes.

    Red Lentil Soup with Curry and Coconut Milk

    3 Tbs. vegetable oil
    2 medium onions, chopped
    1 cup red lentils
    3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
    14-oz. can of coconut milk (can use Lite coconut milk)
    1 bay leaf
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
    1 Tbs. curry powder, preferably hot
    ½ cup chopped cilantro

    1. In medium saucepan, heat 2 Tbs. oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until the onions start to brown, about 10 minutes. Add 4 cups water, lentils, carrots, coconut milk, 1 tsp. salt and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until lentils are tender – about 20 minutes.

    2. Meanwhile, in small skillet, heat remaining 1 Tbs. oil over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, curry powder and cilantro. Cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add to soup.

    3. Remove bay leaf. In food processor or blender, puree soup in batches until velvety smooth. Taste, add a bit more salt if desired. Serve hot.

    Makes 4-6 servings.

    Variation: I made this last night and wanted a more “substantial” soup, so I added a bunch of sliced mushrooms and tofu to the spices and sautéed until the juice from the mushrooms had evaporated. Then I pureed the soup BEFORE adding the mushroom/tofu mixture, combined everything and reheated. It was really good and definitely made a more substantial meal.

  • #2
    My word! That sounds marvelous. It has 3 of my favorite things in it (4 if you add the tofu).

    I've tried cooking with coconut milk twice...I even have a can sitting in my pantry right now (I'm afraid to use it after those last two times).

    There's a coconut/mushroom soup I buy canned at my local organic food store. It's like $4 for a one-serving can, but it is so good.

    St. Louis is not a good place to live if you like vegetarian Asian food. Even the Chinese buffets here keep not one single vegetarian item on their steam tables.

    When I was living in San Francisco there was a Thai restaurant I passed every night when I walked home from work. They had two tofu dishes that I still dream about.

    Sometime when I'm feeling a little too full of myself I'll tell you about my attempts to learn to stirfry (hint: I had to take the battery out of the smoke detector)
    Learn by teaching
    Take responsibility for learning

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    • #3
      It has 3 of my favorite things in it (4 if you add the tofu).
      Onions, garlic and ginger? My motto is there's no such thing as too much ginger!
      There's a coconut/mushroom soup I buy canned at my local organic food store. It's like $4 for a one-serving can, but it is so good.
      Let me guess, Thai Kitchen Coconut Ginger soup? I know that one well, but refuse to fork out the $$ for it - esp. since I can make my own. I ran out of my spice packets that I got when I was in Thailand though - disaster!! I only hope I can find the same spices at the Asian market in Denver, otherwise I'm going to start having severe withdrawal! (Do you have an Asian grocery in St. Louis? You can get things a LOT cheaper there than paying for Thai Kitchen brand.)
      Sometime when I'm feeling a little too full of myself I'll tell you about my attempts to learn to stirfry (hint: I had to take the battery out of the smoke detector)
      Well, you are supposed to have the oil really hot!

      Jeanie

      Comment


      • #4
        Onions, garlic and ginger?

        Well, I love those, but I was thinking of lentils, curry, and coconut

        Let me guess, Thai Kitchen Coconut Ginger soup?

        Good guess!

        Do you have an Asian grocery in St. Louis? You can get things a LOT cheaper there than paying for Thai Kitchen brand.

        Yes, but that requires cooking skills. I used to live across the street from an excellent asian grocer (again, in San Francisco). I'd buy stuff just so I could find out what it tasted like.

        Well, you are supposed to have the oil really hot!

        Oil?
        Learn by teaching
        Take responsibility for learning

        Comment


        • #5
          Oil?

          Wow - you can stirfry without oil? (BTW, how come there isn't a smilie face for "falling off the chair laughing"?)

          Jeanie

          Comment


          • #6
            I'll offer this as an example as to why tech-ish nerds shouldn't cook:

            I read a bunch of different reports about how aluminum, teflon, and fat are bad for you. So I bought a nice stainless-steel non-nonstick pan, and proceeded to try to fry tofu with no fat.

            You know the rest, except for the part where I still can't use the pan without tasting charcoal.
            Learn by teaching
            Take responsibility for learning

            Comment


            • #7


              Too funny Doug! Sorry to hear about your ruined pan though.

              My typical kitchen disaster happens when I'm heating up leftovers, leave the pan on the burner and go to check e-mail "just real quick" - which turns into 10-15 minutes, at which point my lunch is completely burned because I had put the burner on high to heat things up really fast.

              Jeanie

              Comment


              • #8
                This sounds really good!

                It reminds me a bit of a couple of Indian recipes I have. I was not sure if anyone would even be interested in such things but I see at least two people who don't run at the words, curry and lentil!

                My wife is the Asian food expert but I'm unfortunately back to being a bachelor for a while (long, sad story). I think she will fork over some spices however!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Hey!! Don't be afraid to post something just because not everyone will like it. I like to try different things myself. If I try something that doesn't please my palate, I just forget about it.

                  Ed

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Greg - I LOVE Indian food!

                    Ed - OK, I promise to post some other recipes. I don't usually eat "American" food, so whatever I post will probably seem a little "foreign" for those with traditional taste buds.

                    Jeanie

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      glad to hear I'm not the only one who burns food.
                      I looove curry and stuff like that so if anybody knows some good asian / indian food I'd love to get the recipes. I haven't really had too much of that kind of food (I do work at McDonalds) but what I have had I realy liked.

                      - David

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