On Thursday, I left my homiletics class, stepped out of the Divinity School, and encountered terrible traffic thanks to the snow that had begun to quickly fall and accumulate. Thanks to the Twitters, I knew that traffic was absolutely horrible and that I probably shouldn’t attempt to go home for a while. Trying to maximize my time, I camped out in the library to work on my Ethics assignment. Several hours later, I was finished, my stomach was grumbling, and traffic was still snarled up all over the city.
I made plans to meet Kelly, also stuck in her office, at Amerigo for their sparkling wine tasting. However, when we arrived after trudging through the snow, they were closed! So, we turned around and ended up having dinner and cocktails at Rumba. We picked up a couple of other Nashville twitterers and had a lovely night while the snow fell. It took Joe two hours to go the 4 miles back to our house. Some people abandoned their cars or turned back around after 5 hours of little movement. Even still, the snow was beautiful, covering up the city. Walking around made me feel, for the moment, like I was in New York City.
While we made the best of a bad situation, I would’ve rather been at home cooking up a batch of this soup. After seeing it on the blogs of other fabulous ladies that share similar tastes with me like Erin and Beth, I put it on my menu plan. Reading through the recipe, it intrigued me that you essentially make hummus without the tahini and mix it into the soup. The chickpeas add a nice flavor and give the soup a creamy, thick quality. Don’t skip the lemon since the citrus and acidity liven up the flavor.
Have you ever been snow-bound? What did you eat or crave?
Curried Lentil Soup
source: Bon Appetit
Yield 4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onion and carrot; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until onion is translucent, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Add half of chopped garlic; stir until vegetables are soft but not brown, about 4 minutes longer. Add 2 tablespoons curry powder; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add lentils and 4 cups water. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Increase heat and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, puree chickpeas, lemon juice, 1/4 cup water, remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and remaining garlic in processor.
Add chickpea puree and butter to lentil soup. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and additional curry powder, if desired. Add water by 1/4 cupfuls to thin to desired consistency.
Divide soup among bowls. Sprinkle with thinly sliced green onions and serve with lemon wedges.
