Mexican Lentil Soup With Roasted Garlic And Chilies Recipes

Steps:

• To toast cumin (or coriander) seeds, place the whole seeds in a dry small skillet over low heat. Stir and shake until the seeds release their aroma and darken slightly, just a minute or two. Transfer to a bowl if you won't be grinding them right away, they will continue to cook if left in pan. Grind in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.
• Sort and rinse the lentils and put them in a soup pot with the water, bay leaf, sage, and oregano. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook, uncovered, at a gentle boil for 15-20 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Remove the herbs.
• While the lentils are cooking, preheat the oven to 350*F. Rub the head of garlic with a little oil, place on a baking sheet, and roast for about 30 minutes, until soft. When the garlic has cooled, slice off the top of the head and squeeze the garlic out of its skin. Puree with the tomatoes in a blender or food processor and set aside.
• Heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, 1/2 teaspoons salt, cumin, and dried oregano; saute over medium heat until the onion is soft, about 7-8 minutes. Add the carrot and peppers and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the ancho chili powder and the chipotle puree, the pureed tomatoes, and 1 teaspoons salt; simmer for 10 minutes.
• Combine the lentils and their broth with the vegetables, cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Add salt to taste. For more spice, add more ancho chili powder or chipotle puree to taste. Sprinkle in the fresh cilantro and oregano just before serving.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• In a small heavy saucepan, cook garlic in hot oil over medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes or until very soft and golden. Drain, reserving the oil.
• In a medium saucepan combine garlic and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover.
• Simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325°F On a baking sheet toast bread cubes about 1o minute or until dry through, but not brown. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the reserved garlic oil, toss to coat.
• Bake 5 more minutes or until croutons are golden.
• Season broth mixture to taste with salt.
• Divide the avocado, queso fresco, tomato, and green onions among warm bowls. Add soup. Top with croutons.
• **Any remaining garlic oil can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours and used on salad dressing, omelets, etc.
• **To make ahead, prepare soup and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Bring to a boil just before serving.

Steps:

• Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heating element in your oven and preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Arrange red bell pepper halves, yellow bell pepper halves, and orange bell pepper halves onto prepared baking sheet with cut sides down.
• Roast peppers under the preheated broiler until the skin of the peppers has blackened and blistered, 5 to 8 minutes. Place the blackened peppers into a bowl and tightly seal with plastic wrap. Steam as they cool until the skin has loosened completely, about 20 minutes. Remove and discard skins. Cut peppers into small dice.
• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat; cook and stir onion and carrot in hot oil until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, tarragon, thyme, and paprika; continue to cook and stir until garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes.
• Stir roasted peppers, tomatoes, water, and hot sauce into the peppers mixture, place a cover on the pot, and cook until the tomatoes soften, about 5 minutes.
• Pour vegetable broth into the pot; add lentils, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper; bring to a boil, cover the pot, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes.
• Pour soup into a blender or food processor no more than half full. Cover and hold lid down; pulse several time to get the soup to be only slightly chunky. Repeat processing until all soup has been blended.