Lent is for Lentils

A Lenten Recipe featuring the Humblest Legumes

This article is part of the blog’s Lent series where Claritas writers are reflecting on the season of Lent in the weeks leading up to Easter.

BY AMY CROUCH

Since the early days of the church, Christians have taken a period of time before Easter as a time of fasting and penitence—typically from forty to eighty days. Fasting during this season of Lent is not directed at self-improvement or cultivation of personal holiness but as a sacrifice made in order to repent and to worship God more rightly. 

Historically, both the eastern and western churches imposed a Lenten fast from meat, dairy, and eggs; these practices have shifted and evolved over the two-thousand-year history of the Church, but to this day, millions of Christians abstain from animal products during Lent.

Enter: the humble lentil. A lentil is a small legume with very little to recommend itself on the outside—a simple lens-shaped bean (in fact, lenses are named after lentils). But within, the lentil shines with glory. Lentils are an excellent plant protein—with one cup of cooked lentils providing roughly 20g of protein—and are full of fiber, folate, iron, and vitamin B6. During the vegetarian season of Lent, lentils were a common source of food for observant Christians from Rome to Syria to Ethiopia.

During Lent, it can be helpful to look to the lentil for nourishment—both physical and spiritual. While not all churches call their flock to give up meat and animal products, it can be a helpful discipline to eat more simply and to consider what it means to abstain from eating the flesh of living beings. And the lentil itself, in its gentle generosity, is a reminder to Christians of what “a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity” might look like [1]. We can all learn from the humility of the lentil: quiet and unassuming on the outside but filled with rich delight within.

SIMPLE RED LENTIL SOUP

Adapted from Melissa Clark’s Red Lentil Soup with Lemon [2]

This is a simple soup made with red lentils—which cook much faster than other lentil varieties—inspired by Turkish lentil stews. It is a quick and tasty weeknight soup, delicious with rice. An excellent baseline for improvisation; try adding other vegetables, spices, or meats.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, more for drizzling

  • 1 large onion, chopped

  • 5 garlic cloves, minced

  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger, about a 1-inch piece of ginger root

  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste

  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin

  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste

  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

  • ¼ teaspoon ground chile powder or cayenne, more to taste

  • Pinch of smoked paprika

  • 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth

  • 1 cup water

  • 1.5 cups uncooked red lentils

  • 2 large carrots, peeled and diced

  • 4 cups spinach, washed

  • Juice of 1 lemon, more to taste

  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS:

  1. In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat until hot and shimmering. Add onion and ginger, and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes. Once onion and ginger are golden and soft, add garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds to a minute, until evenly golden and aromatic but not burnt.

  2. Stir in tomato paste and spices, and sauté for 2 minutes longer.

  3. Add broth, carrots, 1 cup water, and lentils. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Add spinach; remove lid from pot and let simmer until desired thickness is reached. (Alternatively, if soup is too thick for you, add more water.) Taste and add salt and spices until the flavor is what you want.

  4. Stir in lemon juice and cilantro. Taste again and add more lemon juice if desired. Serve soup drizzled with olive oil and dusted lightly with chili powder if desired. Serves 3-4. 

SOURCES

  1. 1 Timothy 2, NRSV

  2. New York Times Cooking, Melissa Clark’s Red Lentil Soup with Lemon

Amy CrouchComment