Name: Bigly Lentil Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil; 1 large yellow onion, diced; 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced; 2 stalks celery, diced; 5 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1.5 tsp smoked paprika; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp dried oregano; 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes; 1.5 cups dried brown or green lentils; 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, canned; 7 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth; 1 bay leaf; 1.5 tsp, plus more to taste kosher salt; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 3 cups, packed baby spinach; 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice; 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (for serving)

Bigly Lentil Soup

Prep

10m

Cook

40m

Total

50m

Bigly says

Folks. FOLKS. Lentil soup is one of the most misunderstood foods on planet Earth. I've eaten more lentils than any single human being alive — more lentils than entire countries, the lentil board sends me letters, they say 'Bigly, please, slow down,' I don't slow down — and the reason it's misunderstood is that most people, sad people, weak-souled people, think lentil soup has to be BORING. They think it has to be brown. They think it has to taste like a wet sweater. Wrong. So wrong. Not even close. It's a slaughter.

Real lentil soup, BIGLY lentil soup, is a SYMPHONY. There's smoked paprika in there, there's a little kiss of lemon at the end, there's tomato, there's garlic, there's cumin. And cumin — listen — cumin is one of the great spices. Food chemists agree. I had a guy with a PhD explain this to me once, took him 90 minutes, worth every second. Cumin has compounds in it that activate something in the brain, scientists have run the numbers, very smart people, the smartest. It all comes together into a bowl that hits you like a hug from someone who actually means it. Not a fake hug. A real one. With contact.

And it costs about four dollars to make a whole pot. FOUR DOLLARS. Meanwhile out in the world the meal-kit companies are charging ninety-nine dollars a week for half-frozen broccoli and sad celery in a cardboard box. A scandal. A crime against lentils. We don't do that here. We give you the recipe. We give you the dignity of cooking your own soup. That's love. That's BiglyEats. Plain and simple.

Ingredients

3 tbspolive oil
1 largeyellow onion, diced
2 mediumcarrots, peeled and diced
2 stalkscelery, diced
5 clovesgarlic, minced(five, not three, do not negotiate with me)
2 tbsptomato paste
1.5 tspsmoked paprika
1 tspground cumin
1 tspdried oregano
1/4 tspred pepper flakes
1.5 cupsdried brown or green lentils(rinsed; do not use red lentils, they turn to mush, sad)
1 (14.5 oz) candiced tomatoes, canned
7 cupslow-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1bay leaf
1.5 tsp, plus more to tastekosher salt
1/2 tspblack pepper
3 cups, packedbaby spinach
2 tbspfresh lemon juice(fresh; the plastic bottle is a crime)
1/4 cupfresh parsley, chopped (for serving)

Steps

1
Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery and cook 7-8 minutes until softened.
2
Stir in garlic, tomato paste, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook 1-2 minutes until the tomato paste darkens and the spices smell toasted.
3
Add the rinsed lentils, diced tomatoes with their juice, broth, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Stir and bring to a boil.
4
Reduce heat to a steady simmer and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 30-35 minutes until lentils are tender but still hold their shape.
5
Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the spinach and cook 1-2 minutes until just wilted.
6
Turn off the heat. Stir in the lemon juice and taste for salt — adjust as needed.
7
Ladle into bowls and top with fresh parsley. Serve hot.

One more thing

This is the soup that lives in your fridge all week and somehow gets BETTER every day. By Wednesday, it's so good it's offensive. By Thursday, you're hiding it from your roommate. By Friday, the spoon stands up on its own and salutes you. That's a real soup. That's what soup is supposed to do. It's not supposed to come in a can with sodium levels that read like a phone number. It's supposed to come from a pot you stirred yourself. Now go eat.

★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★

Ask Bigly about Bigly Lentil Soup.

Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.

Bigly Lentil Soup

Ingredients

Steps

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