My Lentil Adventure, A Soup Review
I’m a huge fan of soup, but not a frequent lentil eater. Being that lentil soups are some of our customer’s favorites, I decided to make and try all of our lentil soups in 1 day. The soups were pretty simple to make, they only called for an 8 oz can of diced tomatoes or tomato sauce. I started the soups at around noon and they were all done by 1 pm – super fast! (here is a great article about how to best cook lentils by Love and Lemons) I ate a bit of each one for lunch. Read my thoughts on each soup below!
Here at Rill’s we have 4 lentil soups: Blue Mountains Lentil and Potato, Daniel’s Lentil and Brown Rice, Mount Mazama Lentil Chili, and Lion’s Den Red Lentil Soup.
The Blue Mountain Lentil and Potato has a really nice and balanced taste to it. It had a garlicky/Italian flavor which I love and a nice black pepper kick at the end! It also had lots of mixed vegetables and potatoes. Overall it was one of the more flavorful lentil soups. If I was going to make this soup again, I would probably add big chunks of carrots to add more crunch to the soup.
The Daniel’s Lentil and Brown Rice was another more flavorful lentil soup. It has a balanced but strong vegetable taste to it, which I think comes from all the carrots and celery. The brown rice also helped me feel full without having to eat a lot. At first, the soup was a little bit dry; I cooked it a little high so the water evaporated out. I chopped up some more tomatoes and threw them in there and it made it a lot better! It added a delicious flavor and I would definitely make it like this again! Maybe I would even add in some sausage if I wanted that much more flavor.
The Mount Mazama Lentil Chili is probably my favorite lentil soup. This soup has an amazing spicy/hot chili flavor. I added the extra crushed peppers which, just made it even more spicy. This soup called for an 8 oz can of tomato sauce. I decided to add some extra sausage, it made my favorite soup even better! It reminded me a lot of when my family would to have chili for dinner, but we would always add sour cream and chives. I would definitely make it again and add the topping next time.
The Lion’s Den Red Lentil was personally my least favorite of the lentil soups but still good. It had a light/mild flavor, which I enjoyed but it had too much wild rice, which I didn’t like. Overall the flavor was good but I didn’t like the texture. If I made this soup again I would probably add some butternut squash and some leeks for an extra onion flavor. I would probably cook it longer than necessary to soften up the wild rice a bit more. With a few adjustments I think I would like this soup just as much as the others.
If you’re in the mood for a quick and easy meal, try out one of our lentil soups: they only take about an hour to cook and are extremely versatile with other ingredients!
Lentils are a high-protein, high-fiber member of the legume family. They are an economical source of protein and evidence suggests they protect heart health. Lentils are also an easy-to-prepare, versatile, and nutritious ingredient. Many studies have suggested that increasing consumption of plant foods like lentils decreases the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and overall mortality while promoting a healthy complexion and hair, increased energy, and overall lower weight.