Gypsy Jan
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Baja Lentil Soup
What makes this a Baja recipe, you might ask? Answer: I bought all the ingredients, except for some of the spices in our beloved Baja.
Green dried lentils (lentejas)
White onion
Carrots
Oil
Garlic (roasted fresh cloves deepen and sweeten the flavor)
Coriander seed (that is the seed for cilantro)
Cumin seed
Cinnamon (canela)
Cloves
Ginger
Red chili
Salt
Pepper
Water or stock
Extra virgin olive oil
Habanero salsa
Cover the lentils with a generous amount of liquid, add salt (you are going to need to taste and add more salt in judicious amounts all along the way
here) and bring to a simmer (the water will be shirring gently, with small bubbles coming up to the surface) for approximately twenty minutes – just
keep checking, the beans should still be crunchy, but taste cooked.
Chop the onions and carrots into a fine dice and sauté gently in oil until soft, but not colored.
Add the spices to the onions/carrots while sauteing, you will smell the “bloom” as the flavors come out. (Note: ginger, cinnamon and cloves can add
very overwhelming flavours, be cautious until you get the right balance).
Let the onion/carrot/spice mix cool and then chop them up in a blender or food processor.
Taste and correct seasonings, then return the mixture to the pot and heat, taste and correct seasonings (you will probably need to add more salt if
you have been cautious up to this point).
Pour into bowls, top with a touch of the habanero salsa to taste and float the extra virgin olive oil on top.
Notes: Of course, the flavors get better if you let it sit in the fridge overnight. Also, this recipe is even more flavorful and terrific if you add
ham, smoked pork, bacon or whatever, but I prepared this version for a vegan friend who swooned over it just the way it was presented and I found one
of the dogs up on the stove, face down in the (cooled) pot snacking away on the vegan version, so I guess that is a “Two-Paws Up” Vote of Approval”
P.S. I forgot to mention that if you add a can of tomatos and some basil, this kicks the flavors "up another notch!" (Credits to Emeril Lagasse.)
[Edited on 10-5-2009 by Gypsy Jan]
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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Paula
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I make lentil soup similar to this and I add tart green apples--- delicious!
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wessongroup
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Lentil's
I give it "two paws Up" too... love lentil soup, and this one sounds great.. thanks it's a keeper
 
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Mexitron
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Made the Baja Lentil Soup for dinner tonight--it was great! We added a can of beef broth and a can of stewed tomatoes to create a little more
broth...worked fine...that's the first time I've had lentils with cloves and cinnamon, really added some depth...thanks for the recipe Gypsy Jan!
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noproblemo2
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Can't wait to make this one also, love making soups in the fall and winter.. Thanks
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JESSE
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Mom used to ad a little cooked bacon at the start of simmering, it gives the soup a very smoky flavor.
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docsmom
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Location: Tucson, AZ
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This sounds great GJ, thanks for the recipe. It's definitely fall here in Tucson, 85 degrees today and with a breeze I was shivering! This morning
I put chili in the crockpot to honor the cold weather. Thursday is supposed to be high in the mid 70's. This soup recipe sounds perfect and we'll
probably have to pull out the sweat pants and snuggies to go with it.
Thanks!
And yea, I get it, what a desert dweller I've become............
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