Comfort Food

Some friends asked me why Chinese people look younger than their age. The secret is the Chinese soup. Without serving with the soup at dinner, it doesn't feel like having a complete Cantonese (Southern Chinese) meal. We used to drink one or two big bowls of soup at dinner. From the view point of Chinese medicine, Chinese soup can rehydrate and nourish your body. Believe it or not?! I really treat soup as my comfort food. Since I moved to L.A., I didn't make a lot of Chinese soups because it's not easy to get the ingredients. And the other reason is I quit eating red meat (pork, beef, lamb and duck). Therefore, I make western style of soups very often. Here's the recipe of a hearty soup that can easily turn to a vegetarian version.

LENTIL SOUP

1 1/2 cups lentils (green), rinsed

1 tbsp olive oil

2 medium carrots, peeled and diced

1 medium onion (yellow or white), diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

4 cups vegetable stock + 4 cups water

2 ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced (or 1- 14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained)

1 tsp dried thyme

2 bay leaves

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

3 slices turkey bacon/pork bacon, diced (optional)

salt & ground black pepper

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Saute the onion, celery, carrots, garlic and bacon (optional) for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are soften and fragrance.
2. Stir in lentils, tomatoes, vegetable stock/water, bay leaves and dried thyme.
3. Bring it to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 35-45 minutes until lentils are tender.
4. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, salt & ground black pepper.
5. Discard the bay leaves and serve in warm bowl.

*REMARKS:

• To skin the tomatoes: Make a cross slit at the bottom of the tomatoes, then blanching in the boiling water for a minute. Remove and place the tomatoes in cold water. The skin will peel off easily.


• You can omit the bacon if you want to have the vegetarian version.