Artemis’ Lentil Soup

This soup is from my good friend Artemis who I met in Jordan. It’s a seriously delicious lentil soup, much more than the sum of its parts. I’ve copied and pasted the recipe from an email, hence the narrative style.

Ingredients:
Red Lentils
5-6 cloves garlic, WHOLE
Onion
4-5 juicy tomatoes
Veggies
Oregano
Broth
Lemons

Start with a relatively deep layer of olive oil in the bottom of the pan on a low flame, add several(As many as 5 or 6) whole cloves garlic(they’re going to get super sweet anyway, so don’t skimp)(don’t chop them, but if you really want, you can squish them a tad. DON’T BURN THEM!).

Cook garlic until it’s fairly well cooked, then add onions. Cook onions for a while.

Now here’s the trick to the whole thing- get several tomatoes(3-5), the rounder hothouse shape, not roma, and cut the stems out, and then in half. No more cutting, just in half. Then put them _cut side down_ in the pan, and let them cook for a while, until they get really cooked and delapidated- you can move them around, but leave them facedown the whole time. They should get quite juicy.(You can chop them up in the pan with a spatula or something once they’re done, if you don’t like big tomato chunks)

While they’re cooking, add some oregano. I didn’t measure, but I’d say 1/2-1 tablespoon. Don’t make it overpowering- it should be relatively subtle.

When the tomatoes are really juicy, you can add more veggies given your preference(If you are adding veggies, I’d add the oregano then, since they’ll be coated more nicely)- I put in cauliflower, but I’m sure you could add zucchini, or anything else you think would go well with the food.

At this point, add the water(I added some buillon, I think, too) and when it boils, add the lentils, then cook as per lentil soup.

Ooh, and I forgot one ingredient last time- this would NOT be an artemis recipe without lemon juice. At or near the end, squeeze in 1/2-1 lemon’s worth of juice.(The best way to squeeze a lemon is to squeeze it into a cup first,then pour it through a fork into the food.)

Oh, and this recipe is schwarztbein friendly- so add some salt.