There was a time when I considered myself vegetarian. It was easy, a very close friend was cooking while I was buying our food. These days I cook my own food and since my time is limited, I gravitate toward simple recipes. With that in mind, there's been a long time since I haven't presented a recipe here, so I'll be telling you about my favorite winter soup (which is more like a borsht), the lentil soup. And since it’s been a while since I wrote in Romanian, I’ll do it again, but you can find the English version below, in Sources.

The first recipe ever posted on this blog was Saltibarsciai (handwritten in English, article in Romanian), stinging nettle (urzici). It was vegetarian in that it didn’t meat, but it was based on yogurt. A second recipe was Sweet Peas with Veal or Mazare cu Carne, which was obviously not vegetarian.

Intamplarea face ca am momentan cam toate ingredientele atat pentru supa / ciorba de linte, cat si pentru Saltibarsciai, iar vremea nu-i nici de vara, nici de iarna, deci mi-e greu sa decid.

• 1.5 – 2 L de Kefir 2 sau 3% m-au costat $3.49, iar 750 g de iaurt 3% m-au costat cam $2
• 1.8 kg lentils - $2.49 (oferta; de obicei costa dublu)

Dar cum iarna a sosit cel putin calendaristic, a venit vremea (si o sa tot vina) unei alte retete nemaipomenite: ciorba de linte.

Chestia asta are anumite valente religioase, dar eu o mananc fiindca-mi place. Am incercat mai multe retete, si din cate am incercat, urmatoarea imi gadila papilele cel mai placut. Voi lista ingredientele in “cani”, care pot fi “cups” sau orice alta masura volumetrica, importante fiind proportiile si nu cantitatile absolute.

Ingrediente (Ingredients)

• 1.5 cani linte rosu (cups red lentils)
• 6 cani apa (cups water)
• 3 frunze de dafin medii (bay leaves)
• 4 catei usturoi maruntiti (cloves garlic chopped)
• 2 felii ginger (slices)
• 1 cana morcov ras (cup grated carrot)
• 1 cana rosie bucati (cup fresh tomato chopped)
• 0.5 cana ardei gras rosu (cup bell pepper finely chopped)
• 1.5 cani ceapa maruntita (cups onions chopped)
• 0.5 lingura the ulei de masline (tablespoon olive oil)
• 1.5 lingurite chimion pisat (teaspoons ground cumin)
• 1.5 lingurite coriandru (teaspoons coriander)
• strop cayenne (pinch)
• 2 linguri zeama de lamaie (tablespoons lemon juice)
• sare si piper dupa gust (salt and fresh ground black pepper)

Recurs la metoda

1. spala si alege lintele (sort & rinse lentils)
2. pune lintele in vasul de supa cu apa, frunze de dafin, usturoi si ginger (put it with..)
3. acopera si pune pe foc puternic (cover and high heat)
4. adauga rosiile, morcovii, ardeiul gras (add tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers)
5. lasa sa fiarba, amesteca, apoi micsoreaza focul si fierbe inabusit 15-20 min (boil, stir, reduce heat, simmer)
6. cat fierb vegetalele, prajeste ceapa pe foc mediu in ulei de masline ca 10 minute pana se-ngalbeneste (saute onion until browned in heavy skillet)
7. adauga chimen, coriandru si cayenne si amesteca 1 min, apoi ia de pe foc
8. amesteca-le pe toate, inclusiv zeama de lamaie, scotand frunzele de dafin si ginger
9. adauga sare si piper si eventual yaurt sau smantana, patrunjel sau cilantro

Acestea fiind zise, I have to tell you that one of the reasons I did not really enjoy being a vegetarian was most likely my lack of attempt at a nutritionally balanced diet – I only ate what I liked – and that caused me to crave meat so much, I eventually had to give it up, as I felt it wasn’t helping. Successful vegetarians eat a balanced diet, eventually compensating for missing nutrients with supplements. Cu acest articol m-am alaturat campaniei Fii Activ cu Doppelherz® aktiv Pentru Vegetarieni.

Sources / More info: cco-lentilsoup, wiki