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Today Matt Swaim of the Sonrise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio chatted about the chapter in Genesis 25 where Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a pot of lentil stew! I thought it would be fun today to share a tasty version I make of this stew, along with a chicken rice soup.

For those of you in need of a warming soup when you’re feeling sick or down, the adapted New York Times version of this simple soup is a winner. Topping it with a garnish of parsley, shaved garlic, lemon zest and celery leaves brings a healthy and flavor twist.

It’s 3 degrees where I live in Southwestern Ohio and we have a foot of snow. I’m thinking about my “cousin” Karen Osler who lives in sunny Portugal

Blessings and take care of yourselves, and each other.The recipe I’m sharing today is adapted from Milk Street and has paprika and roasted peppers in it. Yummy!

SOUPY LENTIL STEW WITH SPINACH, SMOKED PAPRIKA AND ROASTED RED PEPPER

I didn’t have enough smoked paprika for this recipe, so used both smoked and regular, sweet paprika. Smoked paprika gives the soup some depth since it is dried over wood smoke. 

You can do either all sweet, all smoked or a combo. 

Don’t use a sweet or red onion in this recipe. The flavor won’t carry through. 

Top with a French bread crouton to which you’ve rubbed a clove of garlic over the surface, then drizzle with olive oil and pop under the broiler.

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for garnish

1 medium regular onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup)

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon regular sweet paprika

1/2 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika

2 bay leaves

1-1/4 cups brown or green lentils

1 roasted bell pepper, chopped

6 cups broth – I used chicken

Salt and pepper

Fresh spinach — several good handfuls or as much as you like

Instructions

Heat oil over medium heat in soup pot.

Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft but not browned, about 5 minutes.

Add cumin, paprika – smoked and sweet and bay. Cook and stir until fragrant, a couple of minutes.

Add lentils, bell pepper and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook, again stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender and just starting to fall apart. That took 30 minutes on my stove.

Add salt and pepper to taste and adjust seasonings, adding more if you like.

Remove bay, stir in spinach until wilted. 
Drizzle each serving with a bit of olive oil. 

Tips: 

Make it vegetarian/vegan

Use vegetable broth

No fresh spinach? Sub in frozen, thawed

One 10 oz box should do it.

Brown vs green lentils

Common brown and khaki green lentils can be used interchangeably. They usually sit side by side at the grocery. Green lentils take a bit longer to cook. 

Store paprika in freezer

“Red” spices including paprika keep their flavor longer when frozen.

Give paprika a sniff before using. If there’s no aroma, there’s no flavor. It should last a good year in the freezer. 

Adapted from Milk Street. 

CHICKEN AND RICE SOUP WITH PARSLEY LEMON & GARLIC GARNISH

8 cups chicken broth

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs

4 celery stalks, leaves reserved and stalks thinly sliced

1 small onion, diced fairly fine

3⁄4 cup jasmine rice (unrinsed)

Salt

1⁄2 cup fresh parsley leaves

1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest plus up to 1⁄2 cup lemon juice (from 2 to 3 lemons)

1 small garlic clove

1 tablespoon unsalted butter (optional BUT so good)

Instructions

In a large Dutch oven or pot, combine the broth, chicken, celery, onion and rice. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the rice starts to break down and lose its shape, 20 to 30 minutes. Season to taste with a little salt.

Meanwhile, finely chop together the parsley leaves, lemon zest and up to 1⁄2 cup celery leaves – if you don’t have any celery leaves, no worries. Transfer to a small bowl, grate the garlic clove into the bowl, season with salt and stir to combine.

Remove the chicken from pot and transfer to bowl. Using two forks, shred the chicken into pieces, then stir it back into the soup. Remove from heat, stir in the butter and season to taste with salt. Stir in the lemon juice a little at a time until the soup is bright but still tastes like chicken. (You may not use the full 1⁄2 cup juice.)

Divide the soup among bowls and top with the parsley- lemon mixture. (The soup, minus the lemon juice and parsley mixture, can be refrigerated for up to 3 days; the rice will absorb liquid as it sits, so add more chicken broth when reheating. Add the lemon juice and fresh herb garnish just before serving.)

Adapted slightly from New York Times.