Soup Experiment

Usually, I follow recipes rather religiously when I cook, being none too confident in my own abilities to create a dish. But recently I've been experimenting with my own soups. Last week, Mama brought home a potato-mushroom-tomato soup in a clear broth that had lots of flavor. So, drawing upon Mark Bittman's bit on mushrooms in vegetable stock, I made a similar soup, sans tomatoes, adding some lentils to bulk it up. Delicious, especially with homemade dinner rolls, on those rainy, blustery days we had.

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Mushroom and Potato Soup

oil, butter

1 container baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and diced

1 onion, chopped

2-3 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed

1-2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1-3 stalks celery, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

6 cups water

salt, pepper

1/2 cup lentils, sorted and rinsed

Saute mushrooms in approximately 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil. Add onion, celery, garlic, and carrots, cook until onions are translucent. Add water, potatoes, and lentils. Salt and pepper to taste; add other herbs as desired. Simmer until lentils are tender.

Mommy Hungry