Good soup with non-red lentils? Does it matter?

seeker

Mon, Jan 26 2015, 9:41 pm

Most lentil soups I see call for red lentils. I happen to have a bag of non-red lentils (don't know what you call them; they're greenish-brown.)

1. Are they interchangeable?
2. Anyone have a really great lentil soup recipe I can use them in? (child friendly please, whatever that even means)

FranticFrummie

Mon, Jan 26 2015, 11:21 pm

The darker lentils take a little bit longer to cook, and have a slight "peppery" taste, so adjust your seasonings accordingly.

Finely diced onion, celery, and carrot are perfect additions. Cook the soup in veggie or chicken stock.

scrltfr

Tue, Jan 27 2015, 12:34 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

I also throw in a can of crushed fire roasted tomatoes.

sky

Tue, Jan 27 2015, 7:04 am

I find red lentils give a prettier yellow color.
the other lentils are brown and not as pretty,

Great Healthy Lentil soup
Saute 1 onion and 5 clove garlic in a bit of olive oil
Add peeled vegetables (very interchangeable based on what you have in the house, turnip and celery are most important).
1 Turnip
1 Parsnip
5 carrots
6 stalks celery
1 zucchini
1 sweet potato
2 potatoes (I don't include most of the time)
Cover with water. Cook until vegetables are soft.
Blend
Add 1 cup red lentils (or any lentils - the red is just prettier)
Cook 1/2 hour - 1 hour until soft.
Add salt to taste.

I love having this soup in my freezer in individual containers to pop into the freezer

little_mage

Tue, Jan 27 2015, 7:48 am

The big difference between lentil types is how well they hold together when cooked. Red lentils tend to break down, while brown ones hold their shape better. We did this one once and it wasn't bad: http://www.foodnetwork.com/rec......html Just leave out the grains of paradise.

ra_mom

Tue, Jan 27 2015, 7:49 am

seeker wrote:

Lentil barley soups are awesome with green/brown lentils.

gittelchana

Tue, Jan 27 2015, 10:16 am

seeker wrote:

You can use them, they taste the same to me. But they do have a brown "cholent" look to them.

mamaroo

Wed, Jun 29 2016, 4:10 pm

I do a soup with lentils some sauté onions and spinach is very good you can also add a little bit of pasta

its all good

Wed, Jun 29 2016, 8:31 pm

I actually just made a "brown lentil" soup today and it came out really good! Even my 6 year old said it was the best soup ever! I sauteed onions, crushed garlic, added diced carrots,celery, white potato (optional), a little green zucchini, some diced tomatoes. once the tomatoes got really soft I added a can of chickpeas, lentils and hot water. Brought to a boil.then turned down to a simmer. seasoned it with curry powder (alot;), cumin, black pepper, bay leaf (optional) and a little of ground ginger. added salt once lentils were soft.
Came out really good!