Lentil Stew with Poached Eggs

Today is Tuesday.

Probably Taco Tuesday for you, but for us, it's Lentil Soup With An Egg In It Tuesday a/k/a Vegetarian Torture Day! Don't stop reading! I swear, lentils are friends, not tiny beads of torture. They are a delicious, inexpensive source of protein with endless shelf lives. Paired with an egg? This is a DOUBLE protein meal if you think about it. Like putting a chicken wing on top of a hamburger patty. Or "surf and turf with a spoon," if you will. AND, since it's such a healthy dinner, I let everyone dip warm, crusty garlic bread in it. My kids are much more amenable to trying fearsome foods while their hands are filled with hunks of bread, like little edible carbohydrate safety blankets. Actually, the middle kid brought lentil soup to school in a pink princess thermos today. She may have a bit of a bathroom situation later tonight, but I still giggle thinking about her like a small Sicilian peasant child in a kerchief, spooning in her lentils, hoping for some meat on Sunday.

ANYWAYS (My mom says "anyways" is not word and warns against that extra "s" in there. I can't stop myself! It's that or "anywho".), Lent is coming, so I wanted to dust off a few of my meatless meals recipes so that I'm not just scarfing fish tacos every Friday, acting like Joan of Arc or something.

Recipe by Nate Appleman for Bon Appétit.

 

Lentil Stew with Poached Eggs

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped 

1 fennel bulb, chopped Remember to clean fennel really well. It has lots of nooks and crannies for dirt and bug eggs and stuff.

3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

5 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

Kosher salt

1 T. tomato paste

2 cups lentils

1 piece Parmesan rind Well well well, wouldn't ya know, they come in handy! If you don't have, just omit, but start saving them people!

1 bunch large spinach, stems trimmed

4 large eggs I added in one more so we wouldn't fight.

Red wine vinegar and grated Romano cheese for serving I don't know why it says Romano, specifically. I ignored, went with parm.

4 large slices country-style bread

Instructions 

1) Place chopped onion, fennel, carrots and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat and add chopped veggies. Season with salt and cook, stirring often until soft, 10-12 minutes. Stir in tomato paste. Cook 10-12 more minutes until it resembles a paste. Add a bit of water if it's browning too quickly. I added water twice actually.

 

2) Add lentils and 6 cups water to the pot. Lay Parmesan rind on top of soup. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until lentils are soft, 35-45 minutes. Season with more salt to taste. My soup took the full 45 minutes or more. I tasted it at this point and decided to season it with 1 tsp. of salt. Then I shut it off, put a lid on it, and took my kids for haircuts and ran two errands, one being to buy bread for this dish. I came home and picked up where I left off. Easy peasy.

3) Cut spinach leaves in half and add to the pot, stirring until wilted, about 1 minute. Thin stew with water, about 1/4 cup at a time if needed.

4) Use the back of a spoon to make divots for your eggs. Crack the eggs into the divots. Cover the pot and simmer stew very gently just until eggs are set, 8-12 minutes. My eggs took 12 minutes to look like they are pictured below in the second picture.

5) Serve soup with a splash of red wine vinegar, topped with grated cheese, and a hunk of crusty garlic bread on the side.

One of the ways to make garlic bread is to grill, fry or bake oiled bread and rub half a clove of garlic on it.

One tidbit about lentils: you should always pick through them and remove the riff raff. See the beautiful lentils on top? We only like the pretty ones. I found those six on the bottom and set them aside. Not sure why this happens with lentils, but no legume is perfect.

Pop! We all got chocolate peanut butter cookie dough ice cream after this to celebrate and congratulate ourselves on a healthy meal well-eaten.