Thursday, February 4, 2010

Sunday Night Dinner: Hearty Lentil Soup

I've been living gluten free now for nearly one year. It's definitely been challenging, to say the least, but has been a wonderful lifestyle change for me. I owe you guys a post on why and how I went gluten free as many of you have asked! I'll try to get to that this month.

One thing that has made going gluten free much easier is all the resources available on the internet. Thanks to bloggers like Karina, the master mind behind Gluten-Free Goddess, I have lots of gluten free recipes to try out. And honestly, these recipes are so good, they are worth checking out even if you don't have to live gluten free!

Unfortunately, there isn't a gluten free cookbook available - yet. I am sure there will be in the future, but for now I have relied on websites like Karina's.

My creative sister-in-law knew that I really missed having a cookbook to rely upon, so she took matters into her own hands and put together a collection of gluten free recipes!!


This is seriously one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received! I know it took her a lot of time to put together - especially since she wrote out all of the recipes by hand! I nearly cried when I opened it on Christmas Eve!

Last weekend, I tried one of the recipes - Hearty Lentil Soup!



You can see the ingredients above, here is how it all came together!

First, you combine all of the ingredients, except the last 3, in a big sauce pan or dutch oven.


Bring that mixture to a boil,


and let it simmer for 60-90 minutes (until the rice and lentils are tender).

Then you add the tomato paste, frozen corn, and peas and let it simmer for an additional 20-30 minutes (until the peas & corn are tender).



And voila! A hearty, delicious, healthy soup.


I'm all about these one-pot wonders. I know it's not a fancy meal, but it's delicious and I love that I have to do very few dishes when it's all said and done!

Wasn't that a cool gift from my SIL? What the most thoughtful gift you have ever received?

14 comments:

I'maNolaGirl said...

Mmmm... My most thoughtful gift was this same thing from my sister. She compiled recipes from everyone at my wedding shower and put them in a sweet little book. The book was lost during Katrina, and it was one of the things I was truly the most sad to lose. The Christmas following Katrina, I noticed one last present under the tree, and when I opened it, it was a brand new book. She had emailed everyone we knew, so I had even more recipes than before. It meant so much to me that so many people woulc come together to replace a little piece of my heart!

Mandy said...

What an incredibly thoughtful gift from your sister in law! I think that your soup lookd incredibly delicious. I am all about one pot meals. When my stepdad cooks he uses multiple pans and then just waits for someone else to do the dishes, it drives me crazy. One pot is where its at.

Amber @ A Little Pink in the Cornfields said...

That was so nice of her!! I love thoughtful gifts like that. My friends and I did books like that for each other on birthdays and weddings when we were younger! I still have all of them and love looking through them!

Nicole said...

That is such a thoughtful, and beautiful, gift. I know it sounds weird, but I think one of the most thoughtful gifts I received was a scanner. I was stressed about possibly losing all my photos, so I was given a scanner to make digital backups. This was in the days before I had a digital camera, of course.

Amber said...

Aww that is an amazing gift! And that soup looks delicious!

The most thoughtful gift I ever received was the book that my grandma put together for me when I graduated with pictures and memories from when I was a kid and from when my mom was a kid! It was such an amazing gift to receive and I really treasure it!!

Leigh said...

That is such a nice and thoughtful gift!

I'm trying to think of the most thoughtful gift someone has got me, and nothing is coming to my head. But I love putting stuff together like your cookbook for other people to make them feel special :)

qwerkyqook said...

I'm in love with Karina. That soup looks fantastic. Gluten free girl is working on a cookbook that comes out in the fall I think. Her recipes are really great too, a bit fancier. This Christmas eve Linda and Jen gave me a bag of gluten free goodies, lots of baking mixes etc. But they included a bunch of crackers, chips and salsa, so that I could actually EAT something at my aunts house. It's always so nice when people remember! Being gluten free is not always the easiest! Its so nice to have that support, what a wonderful gift!

Lisa-Marie said...

Lisa my dear, that soup looks amazing! my mouth is watering! I have a friend who is also gluten free, and it makes life tough! Do you by any chance have sushi alot? Also, please not that the chocolate truffle cake on my bog is gluten-free.

I have searched UK amazon for you, and it has a few gluten free books

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_6?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=gluten+free+cookbooks&sprefix=gluten

that is my searchy thing - if you can't order them, I am quite happy to order a couple for you and mail them?

I think the most thoughtful gift I'e had so far is my camera from Dave this year.

Kyla Roma said...

There's no gluten free cookboks?? What? That's insane!

Do you use Food Blog Search? It's the only way I ind recipes. Maybe it will help =)

(check it out)

Abby said...

Yum! That looks delicious...as do all your "Sunday Night Dinner" posts!! I like the addition of the tomato paste--it looked like that gave it a lot of "oomph!"

I am honestly going to say that some of the most thoughtful gifts I've received have been from you! "Succulent Wind Women"...I think you gave it to me for my graduation? Although, just am empowering, inspiring, fun-read book -- really gave me a new take on life. I should go back to it every once in awhile and live the words in that book!

Anonymous said...

VERY cool gift! My sister-in-law received a handmade cookbook from her grandmother, hand written, on her and my brother's wedding day. I was so excited (and jealous) for them! Very cool.

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

I'm always impressed at how many leftovers you have from your fabulous meals! I guess I would too if the manfriend didn't eat twice his portion allotment. ;)

Kelly said...

That is SUCH a thoughtful gift! My college roommate made me an amazing scrapbook, that was a really thoughtful gift!

Shoshanah said...

The cookbook is so cute. I love the cover, and especially love the idea.

I love reading all your soup recipes, and love that you always wind up with so many leftovers.