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Lentil Soup For Husbands

Let's play a word association game.  I'll give you a word, and you give me the first thing that comes into your mind.

Lentil.  Barbra Streisand.  Exotic.  Split pea soup.  Legume.  New York.

If any of these are familiar to you, then we share the same thought process.  Again, a lentil is a foodstuff I did not eat, ever, as I was growing up (I know, I know, story of my life).  Lentils were weird, little, pea-like things that people from New York ate.  And Barbra Streisand?  Oh, I know, "Yentl".  A movie she was in; rhymes with lentil.

Lentils, I've discovered are a super-duper nutritional powerhouse.  In fact, check it out here.

So, last night's dinner: Lentil Soup.  The recipe indicated that it would require two hours of cooking time, and because I would be out running errands around the time it would need to be started, I left this task in the hands of my trusty, but nervous husband-chef.

As with most recipes, prepwork makes the actual cooking process go much faster.

In the blue Tupperware at left is: 1 cup sorted and rinsed lentils, 1 stalk celery and 1/2 medium onion (both chopped), and 1 cup of cubed ham.

In the metal dish is garlic powder, salt, pepper, and one bay leaf.

In the Pyrex measuring bowl is five cups of water.
Directions are simple: heat the water (via microwave), pour it into the stockpot, add the seasonings, and ham/lentil mix.  Simmer for two hours.

The husband still had me write the instructions down.  Which I did because I love the guy so much.
It all turned out good, because I came home to a home full of great smells.  And a final product that tasted a lot like bean-and-ham soup.  Rolls and fruit rounded out this very simple, healthy, and delicious meal.

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