Wonderfully Warm Winter Beef Soup with Lentils
Winter. There are some out there who love its cold frostiness. Some who revel in the frozen brilliance of snow, ice and unflinching blue skies. Others,
myself included, find Winter something to escape. They employ any means possible to avoid the clutches of Jack Frost’s frigid grasp, coming as close to hibernation as possible while waiting for the first signs of Spring to show their cheery faces.
No matter your feelings about Winter, though, it’s likely you’ll need to warm up at some point before it’s through.
For me, the best way to do that, my favorite way to thwart Old Man Winter’s attempts to turn me into a human snow cone, is to make a bubbling kettle of soup.
Soup. The greatest defense against Winter’s arsenal.
Whether it’s something creamy — smooth, sweet butternut squash laced with traces of cinnamon — or something more traditional like old-fashioned Chicken Noodle, there’s nothing like soup to warm you, to make you feel comforted, to give you the power to look Winter dead in the face and say, “Bring. It. On.”
My personal favorite is a hearty beef soup, brimming with vegetables and bolstered by the nutritional power of lentils. For me, there’s nothing that makes me feel better. It’s the food that comforts me. The one that is like snuggling under a warm blanket or slipping on a comfy pair of PJs. It’s the thing that warms me from the inside out.
Wonderfully Warm Winter Beef Soup with Lentils
Ingredients
A couple “glugs” of olive oil (regular is fine, save the Extra Virgin for something else)
2 pounds of your favorite boneless beef roast (a good pot roast is a solid choice), cut into bite-sized cubes
Kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper (to taste)
1 large yellow onion, chopped (Maui or some other sweet onion is great here)
1 head celery hearts, diced
2 or 3 large carrots, peeled and diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning (this mix usually contains oregano, thyme & basil, among other things)
3 1/2 (32 oz.) cartons of low-sodium beef broth
2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes WITH the juice
2 cups (usually one bag) of lentils, rinsed
**Melissa’s super-secret “magic” ingredient
Preparation
In a large stockpot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Season the cubes of beef with salt and pepper (I’ve found it best to be liberal with the pepper, but sparing with salt, but that’s just my personal preference). Add the beef to the pot and cook until nicely browned. Remove the meat and place in a bowl, leaving the juices behind in the pot. Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook until softened, about 8-10 minutes. Put the beef (and any juices in the bowl) back into the pot. Add the broth and canned tomatoes. Bring the soup just to a boil, then reduce the head and let it bubble away at a low simmer for about an hour. Add the lentils, and continue to cook for another hour or so.
**Up in the list of ingredients, I mentioned my “super-secret” ingredient. And it’s this: if you use wedges of Parmesan or Romano cheeses, what do you do once you’ve grated it all and gotten down to the rind? Throw it out? Well, stop that! Save those pieces of goodness in a Ziploc bag in your freezer. When you make this soup, toss one of the rinds into the pot as it bubbles away. The result will be an indefinable nutty goodness that your dinner guests won’t quite be able to put their fingers on. It’ll give the soup that certain “je ne çest quoi”.
When you’re ready to eat, ladle the hot soup into bowls and serve with thick slices of warm, crusty bread.
You’ll be sated. You’ll be happy. You’ll be warmed from the inside out.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to receive future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Photo by: stevendepolo
