FIRST DAYS OFF

So finally having a day off was glorious. I think everyone knows what spectacular weather we had that week, and I had to take full advantage by not thinking at all about food for a full 2 days, basically soaking up the sun, taking the sauna for a test run and subsisting on leftovers. Finally I made it over to the Foodland in Thorold, which is a full service grocery store squeezed into about half the space of a regular grocery store! We had recieved a very generous donation from this place, and it was really a thrill inside, it had flowers right insider the front entrance, a full produce section, deli, meat counter, bakery and the like, and had a variety of different brands of
food available. Really, I couldn't believe the variety they had crammed into a space that was maybe only twice the size of a convenience store. I saw some shrimp rings on sale, which gave me a great idea for later (more on this further on...)! At the checkout they had some kind of crazy deal going where they were giving out gift cards to people for shopping there. It was nice to have a cute, friendly and personal shopping experience, and then back to the monastery, where it was back to unloading the groceries and taking some time on the front porch to listen to the frogs singing at sunset. On the first day here, I was unprepared and swamped after the first meal, completely unsure of what to serve next, with the clock ticking away. Here is the soup that has saved me many times before, and saved me once again- built around only 3 ingredients.

1-2-3 Lentil soup (this recipe is more of a ratio than a recipe).

1 or 2 (depends on how much you're making) med. cooking onions, diced.
Orange lentils (must be the orange kind!!)
Water
1-2 tsp mild curry powder
Salt to taste
Bay leaf (optional)
What you do is saute the onions in the soup pot with some olive oil
until they are softened, then add the little bit of curry paste or
powder- you are going for a background flavour here, not a curry soup.
Add lentils and water, in a proportion of 1 part lentils to 4 parts
water if you like the soup very thick, or 1 part lentil and 5 parts
water if you like it soupier. You can make as much or as little as you
like this way. Bring it to a boil and turn down to simmer, stirring
occasionally, for about an hour or until the lentils are fully cooked
and dissolved into the soup, and the whole thing has thickened. Salt
the soup to taste. It should be mild and comforting, yet have more
flavour than you'd expect given that it has so few ingredients. Serve
the soup with a wedge of lime or lemon, and a bottle of hot sauce to
perk it up. Should you happen to have some parmesan to grate into it,
along with a grind of black pepper, I can testify that is also nice,
and with a slice of bread is a very good meal.


-Deirdre