Lunch Lady Cookbook Mondo Fandango Lentil Soup
Hey there boys and girls! This is Lunch Laddy Michael Gillan Maxwell bringing you the latest edition of the Lunch Lady Cookbook. I don’t know about you, but after I’ve been outside in the crisp autumn weather doing manly things like wearing flannel shirts, raking leaves, tossing the old pigskin around, cleaning gutters, cutting firewood and wrangling Cocker Spaniels, it takes some stick-to-your-ribs hearty fare to keep the Lunch Laddy’s depleted afterburners chugging away.
It’s times like this when Cup-a-Soup just ain’t makin’ it. You need something to stoke the furnace. It’s time to pull out the big guns and make it from scratch and while you’re at it, you might as well chef up a power packed protein and antioxidant bomb with plenty of fiber to move the mail. It’s the right time of the year for Lunch Lady Cookbook Mondo Fandango Lentil Soup.
Pull together the following ingredients, and commence to slicin’ n’ dicin’
1 package red lentils
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups brussels sprouts (cut in half)
2 cups chopped carrots
1 chopped onion
16 oz. chopped baked ham w/bone
16 oz. can diced tomatoes with green pepper and
8 oz. can tomato sauce
6-8 cups water
2 -3 coves of garlic
Worcester sauce
Hot sauce
Spices ~ sea salt, fresh ground mixed pepper, basil flakes, garlic powder
Combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, carrots, brussels sprouts and celery in a stock pot.
Rinse and drain lentils, then add to stock pot with other ingredients.
Bring to boil then turn to simmer.
Slice ‘ dice onion, garlic and ham ~ sauté until onions are caramelized ~ add to stock pot.
Season generously.
Simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring frequently.
Top with Pecorino Romano Cheese and serve with massive piece of buttered crusty rosemary olive oil bread
Beverage Pairing ~ Brooklyn Brown Ale (or 2)
Musical Pairing ~ Plenty of gutbucket blues with reverb drenched chainsaw guitars ~ early Stones, Black Keys, Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside
And if your guests give you any kind of grief at all, then it’s NO SOUP FOR YOU! COME BACK ONE YEAR!
Until next time, this is the Lunch Laddy signing off for The Lunch Lady Cookbook.
Party hardy and eat hearty. Bon apetit!
Your Own Back Yard - Michael Gillan Maxwell 
November 19, 2012 at 9:28 pm
I’ve been missing your posts! And it’s finally cool enough in AZ to make some good ol’ soup.
November 20, 2012 at 11:08 am
Thanks Jules! I’ve been involved in a small writing circle. I’ve been writing one 500 word flash piece per week for the last 12 weeks (still going) but it has taken ALL of my feeble brain.