Warm Lentil Salad with Bacon and Eggs

I've been missing my yummy lentil soups (Curried Lentils and Tomatoes Stew and Lentil Stew with Bacon and Greens) but not in the mood for hot soups.  I've seen a bunch of variations of recipes for lentils and eggs on the internet so I decided to throw something together based on random things I had in my fridge and I was pleasantly surprised.  This dish was super yummy and satisfying.  And I'm a sucker for a fried egg topper (mmm runny yolk!).  I think this is my new favorite comfort food and it's definitely a lot healthier than my standard comfort foods!

Servings: 2-4 (depends on if you want a big or small dish)

Ingredients:
1 cup dry green lentils
1 bag of baby spinach
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup carrots, chopped (you could add more; I'm just not a big carrot person)
4 slices bacon, chopped
4 eggs (or more if you want - the more eggs the merrier!)
1/4 teaspoon thyme
2 cups water
Red wine vinegar to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Bring 1 cup of lentils and 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.  Drain well.
• Heat a pan over medium heat and cook 1 chopped onion, 1/4 cup chopped carrots, 4 slices chopped bacon, and 1/4 tsp thyme about 4-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender.
• Add the cooked lentils and a bag of spinach to the pan.  Stir everything together until the spinach leaves wilt.
• Add red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to the lentil mixture to taste.
• Fry or poach 4 eggs so that the whites are solid and the yolks are nice and runny.  
• Top the lentil mixture with the eggs (I do two for my dish because I'm an egg monster).
• You can season with more salt and pepper if needed.  Because my taste buds are warped from years of eating spicy Korean food I added a couple splashes of Tabasco sauce (mmm extra vinegar taste too!).

• Mash up the egg and enjoy!

 I hurriedly took these photos and then dug in.  Delish!

Curried Lentils and Tomatoes Stew

My sister was complimenting me on my food blog recently and she said, “Uh it’s pretty clear from your blog that you love bacon and soup.”  That I do, that I do.  I swear I decided to make this mainly because of the curry and lentils. The bacon just happened to be there.  I don’t even search out for bacon recipes anymore, bacon finds me!  


While I love my regular lentil soup recipe, this is a great change with all the healthy deliciousness of lentils but with a completely different flavor.  I added half and half at the end since I had the nonfat kind from Trader Joe’s handy but I think it would’ve been fine without it.  We’re nearing the end of soup/stew weather, and that makes me very sad because I have so many yummy ones like this that I’ll miss over the hot spring and summer months!

Servings: 6 (but I can totally make this a 2-3 mealer for me)

Ingredients:
4 bacon slices (I use turkey)
1 vidalia onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dried lentils
½ cup carrots, chopped
½ cup celery, chopped
5 ounces mushrooms, chopped (I like baby bella)
2 teaspoons curry powder
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 (14.5 ounce) cans of no salt, diced tomatoes (undrained)
½ cup half and half
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or 2 tablespoons of dry sherry)
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Heat Dutch oven over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray.
• Add 1 chopped onion, 5 oz chopped mushrooms, 4 minced garlic cloves, and 4 chopped bacon slices.  Cook for 4-5 minutes.
• Add 4 cups chicken broth, 1 cup lentils, ½ cup chopped carrots, ½ cup chopped celery, 5 oz chopped mushrooms, 2 tsps curry powder, ½ tsp ground ginger, ¼ tsp ground cinnamon, and 2 cans of diced tomatoes.  Stir together and bring to a boil.  Then reduce heat and let simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  
• Stir in ½ cup half and half and 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar (or 2 tbsps of dry sherry).

The girls are always lurking. But they weren't as intrigued by the curry aromas.

I always top of my bowls of soup and stew with extra black pepper.  Hey what are you girls doing down there?? 

Enjoy! But don't feed any sad pugs curry.  I opted instead to feed them baby carrots.  Everyone was pleased.

Adapted from My Recipes.

Lentil Stew with Bacon and Greens

I love lentils and I love bacon so this soup was a must for me.  I find that bacon just makes soups so much better!  This can also be made with ham if you’d prefer, but when given the choice between ham and bacon, I always go with bacon!  Now if I had to choose between sausage and bacon, that’s a tough call.  

Anyways, this is another satisfying and hearty soup that is perfect for the cold wintry days.  And if you use turkey bacon instead of regular bacon, then it’s a pretty healthy soup.  It’s also a sneaky way to get some greens in.  I like to use kale for my green because I feel like kale is a good soup green since it doesn’t wilt as much as spinach.  I think that this and my Rosemary Split Pea Soup with Bacon are my favorite soups right now.  I like to eat this with a toasted French roll that I pull apart and use to scoop the lentil stew - yum!

Servings: 5 servings (but I can easily eat this for two dinners)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
5 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dried lentils
1/2 cup chopped carrot
2 bay leaves
3 cups kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, or spinach (chopped)
1 baking potato (chopped)
6 slices bacon (chopped) (or 1 cup chopped ham)
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions:

• Heat Dutch oven over medium-high heat and either spray with cooking spray or heat 1 tsp of oil. 
• Add 1 cup onion, 5 oz mushrooms, 3 minced garlic cloves, and 6 slices bacon.  Cook for 5 minutes. 
• Add 5 cups chicken broth, 1 cup lentils, ½ cup carrots, and 2 bay leaves.  Bring soup to a boil and then cover and reduce heat.  Simmer for 20 minutes. 
• Add 3 cups kale (or Swiss chard, collard greens, or spinach) and 1 chopped potato.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat.  Simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
• Stir in the can of tomatoes, 1 tsp basil, ½ tsp thyme, and ½ tsp pepper.  Simmer for 10 minutes. 
• Discard bay leaves and sprinkle soup with 3 tbsps of parsley.

Anytime I cook anything with bacon, Sunny and Rosy camp out in the kitchen, hoping I'll drop a piece.

Adapted from My Recipes.

Rosemary Split Pea Soup with Bacon

I LOVE split pea soup, especially with bacon.  I had wanted to make this for a long time but was put off by the long cooking time.  Recently, I’ve been going through a soup phase, which was further deepened once I bought my first Dutch oven (love!).  Now I make this soup all the time!  Yes, it takes a while to cook, but it’s pretty easy to make and freezes okay so I just make a batch over the weekend.  When my sister was visiting for the holidays I made this for her (along with the two batches of dark chocolate cookies she demanded from me) while she went to my gym.  By the time she came back, my apartment smelled amazing and I was exhausted.  But it was all worth it when she couldn’t stop raving about the soup!  We had planned to eat only a little bit of the soup and then eat Christmas leftovers but we ended up eating all of the soup for lunch instead!  

Servings: 6 servings (but my sister and I polished it off between the two of us in one meal so I guess that means we each had 3 servings and I usually make this for two dinners)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups green split peas
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup diced carrot
5 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon minced garlic cloves, divided
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary, divided (you need fresh rosemary - this makes the soup!)
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
4 cups water
4 cups vegetable broth
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
4 slices bacon, chopped into ¼ inch pieces
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
¼ cup low-fat sour cream (optional)

Instructions:

• Sort and wash 1 ½ cups green split peas.  Cover peas with water to about 2 inches above the peas and set bowl aside.
• Heat Dutch oven over medium-high heat and either spray with cooking spray or heat 1 tsp of oil. 
• Add 2 cups onion, 1 cup carrots, 4 slices bacon (chopped), and 1 bay leaf.  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add 5 oz mushrooms, 2 tsps garlic, 1 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp paprika, and ¼ tsp black pepper.  Cook for 3 minutes.
• Add 1 tbsp tomato paste and 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce.  Cook until liquid evaporates and scrape the bottom of the Dutch oven to loosen up the browned bits.
• Drain the peas and add the peas, 4 cups water, 4 cups of vegetable broth, and 1 tsp salt.  Bring soup to a boil and then cover and reduce heat.  Simmer for 1 hour, stirring often.
• In a small bowl, combine 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp garlic, 2 tsps of rosemary, and ¼ cup fresh parsley.  Mix together until combined and set aside.
• Uncover soup and discard bay leaf.  Now some people like to blend half of the soup in a blender or food processor but I like my soup chunky and after cooking for an hour everything gets really soft and is already pretty mushy.  This is purely a textural preference.  
• Stir in the parsley mixture into the soup.  

You can top the soup with a dollop of sour cream if you’d like, but I really like this soup on its own.  I did the dollop the first time I made it but now I don't use it. I love making this soup for cold wintry days.  It’s delicious, satisfying, and extremely flavorful.  I’ll be sad when it’s summer and it’s too hot for me to make and eat this anymore!

Poor pugs.  I love to torment them in my efforts of getting a photo of them with my food.

Adapted from My Recipes.