“Lentil Soup Made from Scratch and Leftovers!”

Quick Lentil Soup! This is the story to this Recipe, I ran across and bought a package of Melissa’s ready to eat Steamed Lentils about a month ago wanting to make a soup with them. My wife has made very delicious Lentil soup for many years with the dried lentil beans. And she has always done a very good job. In Fact we had some friends come down once from Albuquerque, NM and they have never had Lentil Soup Before. My wife had a big pot going at the time and so we invited them to stay for dinner. They absolutely love that soup she made. Insisted on the Recipe which is a very simple recipe and they have not looked back! Making their very own Lentil soup. Lentils are delicious and very healthy for you! I was watching an Episode of “Take Home Chef” on Netflix the other night and his very first Episode was on Making, That’s right “Lentil Soup” that episode inspired me to create my own version of Lentil Soup. I had frozen some “Spiral Ham” leftovers several months ago. I thought that instead of a Ham Hock that this very Tasty and sweet-smoky Spiral Ham would do very well with Lentils. So here Goes! This Recipe should serve 4 or 5 hearty bowls of soup, is it hardy or hearty? Does not matter.... here goes again.... Ingredients: Melissa’s Steamed ready to Eat Lentils (1 package, 17.8 OZ.) 1 Carrot -Sliced thin or chipped, small pieces! 1/4” to 3/8” 1 Celery Stalk - Sliced thin 5 Cloves of Garlic - Sliced Thin. 1/3 Medium Onion (Sweet Onion) 1T of Virgin Olive Oil 1/3 cup - Green Chili - 1/4” - 3/8” Diced Pieces 1/3 cup - Bell Pepper - 1/4” - 3/8” Diced Pieces (I used orange color bell) 1/2t - Extra Hot Prepared Horseradish 1/2T o 1T of minced Garlic... again.... Pepper to Taste. 4 Cups of Water. I used about 8 oz of leftover Spiral Ham Pieces. (Last time I was at the store I actually saw 1 pound packages of Spiral Ham Slices and Pieces for sale) We diced the ham to about 1/2” to 3/4” pieces. Since it was spiral Ham they are about 1/8 - 3/16 Thick. This is how it goes down. Get a 2 Quarts Pan.... Add the 1T of Olive oil, and heat the oil on med-high. When the oil gets hot throw in the Sliced Garlic and Onions, add some ground pepper and stir constantly until the onions and garlic just start to brown. Next add the Spiral Ham and keep stirring, Heat the spiral ham for about 2 minutes. Next throw in the Green Chili and Bell Pepper keep stirring. After a minute or so add the 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Now add the Minced Garlic and Horseradish, carrots and celery. Little more ground pepper if you want. Add 1/4 of the package of the Melissa’s Ready to Eat Steamed Lentils, save the rest for adding later. Now cover and simmer (light boil) the whole mess for 35 minutes. Stirring Occasionally. After 35 minutes add the rest of the Lentils from the package and simmer on low, uncovered for the next ten minutes, stirring often. You will not have to add hardly any salt since there is salt in the Lentils already and the Spiral ham is salty itself. Next step is to serve yourself a huge bowl, Corn Bread would go great with this meal but for quickies we went with toasted Parmesan/Garlic buttered Hamburger buns. In a toaster oven I took wheat hamburger buns, spread the one side with butter, spread very thinly some minced garlic from a jar of minced garlic and sprinkled shredded Parmesan cheese on top. Then toast on both sides until cheese is just turning brown. Hey it’s quick and it tasted good! ENJOY! We certainly did! We had this for lunch guess what’s for dinner and looking forward to it!! UPDATE: We had the Lunch at around 1:30 PM - Then I just reheated and had this for Dinner at 7:00 PM It was even better! I have a small bowl leftoever for tomorrow. This soup if left overnight in the refrigerator will be even more tastier. That’s the way the soup goes! I wanted to put this recipe here on HangerSteak.com so I would remember how to do this again in the future!! It really is for my benefit, but you can benefit too. If you cannot find Melissa’s Lentils stay tuned I may put a link here on this page where you can buy it!