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Lentil Soups

January 3, 2009

Happy New Year everyone! Well, it's a full year since I was whining about how unsuccessful my weight loss had been and I promised myself and my readers that this year would be different. Three hundred sixty five meat loafs later I'm still fat. Big enough to be the state bird of Texas, actually. Or did Mississippi bump them out of first place as the fattest state in America?? Whatever. Ken and I received a Christmas card from one of his cousins who has forever struggled with her weight. That little minx is thin as a rail! I e-mailed her to get the skinny, no pun intended, and it turns out she did not diet at all, nor did she take pills or get some sort of surgery. She signed up for a new website where you can keep an online diary of sorts for what you eat and how much exercise you do. It doesn't recommend eliminating or adding foods to your diet- it just asks that you register every bite you eat and every drop of sweat and after it calculates your current weight, your goal weight, and the maximum amount of weight you would like to lose per week it tells you how long you would have to eat like that to reach your goal. It does, however, tell you that you need to restrict your calorie intake to reach your goal but it doesn't tell you that you can't eat chocolate. It's all about accountability and it sounds like it fits in to my current theme that has thus far been unsuccessful. At $9 a month I signed up this morning. Hey, it's cheaper than Jennie Craig & Nutri-slop, right? So I logged in and entered my steel-cut Irish Oatmeal with a measured tablespoon of maple syrup (I hate measuring!) and the program informed me that I earned a "smiley face" for not consuming any saturated fats and for eating a good amount of dietary fiber. Woo-hoo!! For dinner tonight I decided to make some homemade lentil soup, since I'm CERTAIN I'll get another smiley face for the high fiber content. This soup is not vegetarian, by the way. As with most of my soups, it starts with bacon. Delicious pork fat! Maybe that will cancel out the smiley face I earn for the fiber, but we'll see. I really hate those bean and/or vegetable soups that have little to no flavor and this soup definitely does not fall under that category. It's hearty, rich, filling and full of flavor. I especially love cumin so I used a good amount of it here. I made a double batch and will freeze the leftovers in individual portion containers to bring to work. Perfect! I can give myself a smiley face with little effort any day of the week!

Lentil Soup

1 glug of olive oil
1/2 pound pancetta, diced small
3 rib celery, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 small - medium onion, diced
2 gatlic cloves, pressed or minced
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons chile powder
3 cups beef stock
3 cups water
1 cups lentils
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a stock pot along and brown the diced pancetta. If you can't find pancetta, you can substitute with regular bacon. Pancetta, however, is very salty so don't season the soup until the very end. Once browned, add the diced vegetables along with the cumin and chile powder and cook until softened, stirring every so often. Stir in the stock and water then add the beans. Lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Adjust the seasoning. Puree about half of the lentils in a blender or food processor (or use an immersion blender) and return to the soup to thicken. Serve with crusty bread.

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