Lentil Soup 4.07 The Festival of Living Art

“Hey, how's the research going, Kirk?” “Good. I'm using the clothing to get into character and I've been focusing on historical foods. Christ ate a lot of lentils.” “No utensils back then?” “No, they had utensils.”

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp olive oil

• ¾ cup white onion, chopped

• ½ cup carrot, peeled and chopped

• ½ cup celery, chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 1 16 oz can fire-roasted tomatoes

• 4 cups veggie broth

• 2 cups green lentils

• ½ tbsp fresh rosemary

• ½ tbsp fresh thyme

• ½ tbsp fresh tarragon

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pepper

• ½ cup coconut cream, plus more for serving

• 2 cups kale, roughly chopped

Directions:

Instant pot method:

1. Set your instant pot to saute and drizzle olive oil over the bottom of the pot.

2. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Saute for about 3-4 minutes or until fragrant.

3. Turn the saute feature off so you don’t burn the vegetables.

4. Add the can of tomatoes, veggie broth, lentils, herbs, salt, and pepper.

5. Stir the soup to fully combine then place the lid onto your instant pot.

6. Set to manual and set the timer for 10 minutes. After the timer beeps, quick release the pressure.

7. Remove the lid and add the coconut cream and the kale. Stir to combine the cream and the kale wilts.

8. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and top with more coconut cream if you wish.

Stovetop method.

1. Drizzle the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. Saute for about 3-4 minutes or until fragrant.

2. Add the can of tomatoes, veggie broth, lentils, herbs, salt, and pepper.

3. Stir to fully combine then allow to reach a boil for 5 minutes.

4. Place a lid on the stockpot and reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for 40 minutes.

5. Remove the lid and add the coconut cream and the kale. Stir to combine the cream and the kale wilts.

6. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and top with more coconut cream if you wish.

This is what the soup looks like before the lentils absorb the broth.

This is definitely a fan favorite episode, but they actually don’t mention a lot of food in this one. Because Kirk is the true star of this episode- at least, in my mind- it only made sense to make his lentils. However, I didn’t want to make a bowl of lentils. One of my favorite soups this time of year is an instant pot lentil soup. I decided to alter my recipe to make it vegan for any of my vegan followers. It was mostly vegan to begin with, but I made a few modifications to make it completely vegan.

This isn't the prettiest soup, but it's delicious!

If you’ve read any of my soup posts before (like butternut squash for The Bracebridge Dinner or mushroom soup for Dead Uncles and Vegetables) then you’ll know how much I love soup, especially during the winter. To me, they are the ultimate comfort food. Soup is like a hug in a bowl. So, I was glad that this episode fell when we were having a particularly cold snap in Texas.

Add some coconut cream to your soup to serve

Is this one of your favorite episodes of Gilmore Girls? I just love all the costumes and the makeup they do on all of the townspeople reenacting the artwork. Fun fact if you didn’t know, this is the only episode of the show to be nominated for and win an Emmy, and it was for the makeup!

Happy Cooking from the Hollow

If you missed what I made last episode, catch up here!

Warm up with a bowl of lentil soup!