Changing It Up

Today was gloomy and chilly...and a good day for soup. When I looked in the pantry to see what was there I decided a hearty lentil soup made in my Instant Pot is what would be for dinner.

Son Brian was the first person in the family to get an Instant Pot, and he gave me one last year. Since then we've shared recipes and tips back and forth. Very early on I made an Indian-inspired lentil soup recipe which used both brown and red or yellow lentils. (The colorful ones took less time to cook and fell apart before the brown ones were done, which made the finished dish wonderfully thick.) I told Brian; he made the recipe and liked it so much it went into his regular cooking rotation. He even started making up batches of a seasoning mix to have on hand, then shared the information with Son Donald, who shared it with me:

Turmeric, chili powder, coriander, cumin, black pepper,
onion powder, and garlic

Today, though, I was in the mood for Mexican, and I wondered why I couldn't spice the basic soup differently. I Googled 'Mexican lentils' and cobbled together portions of three different recipes. My dish started with onions, lots of garlic, and three types of lentils (brown, yellow, and red because why not?). After I sauteed the vegetables and tossed in the lentils I added broth, half of a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes, and a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste, then seasoned with pepper, cumin, oregano, and chili powder. I closed up the Instant Pot and cooked everything for 20 minutes.

When the soup was done I served it up with tortilla chips to continue the Mexican theme. It was so good I forgot to take a photo!

Five years ago today: Welcom-er