Bloomberg: Eat lentils to curb inflation woes. Elsewhere...

[Celerity]

26. here

Red Lentil Soup With Lemon (NYT)

no paywall block

https://archive.ph/YTYCF



snip



A Lentil Soup to Make You Stop, Taste and Savor

https://archive.ph/Vx4It



FOR years it seemed that everyone I knew had a special lentil soup recipe, one that sustained them and kept them warm all winter long. I had flirted with countless incarnations, and most tasted reasonably good. They were brawny, solid and predictable. I liked them in varying degrees, but never quite enough to take home to my soup pot. Until recently, when I fell head over heels. Could this be the one?

It was so unexpected. At a friend’s dinner party this fall, white espresso cups filled with a steaming liquid were passed around as hors d’oeuvres. Deep in conversation, I took an absent-minded sip that instantly dazzled, yet mystified me. A gorgeous soup, it was warming and hearty, and possessed a velvety texture that recalled some kind of puréed legume. But it had a zesty, spicy flavor that was more ethereal and sunny than any earthbound, wintry bean.

“It’s nothing, just a little lentil soup,” said my hostess nonchalantly when I cornered her in the kitchen to grill her. Lentil? It didn’t taste like lentils. And with its muted golden color, it didn’t look like them either. “Red lentils, Sweetie, with chili and a little lemon; I’ll e-mail you tomorrow with the recipe,” she promised.

In fervid anticipation, I picked up some red lentils the next morning. Unlike their more familiar green and brown cousins, red lentils are hulled and split when you buy them. This lets them cook much faster than their relatives, though they don’t hold their shape as well, making them problematic for salads and ideal for soup. Or so I found out with a little Googling. The e-mail appeared. I wasn’t coy; I had already pulled out the soup pot.

snip