Vegetarian Lentil Soup Assistance

As I was walking down the aisle of the grocery store, perusing the canned lentil soup's sodium percentages, I began grumbling mentally. Why is it that the high sodium soup in the can tastes better than mine?

I went home and while making the soup, realized that my soup has a green scent. By this I mean too raw. Kind of like the fresh green scent you get from being around dried sacks of vegetarian green pet food. Newly mown grass. Don't know how to explain it better than that.

Any suggestions? Should something be pre-sauteed and then added to the soup pot to improve the flavor? In the past I sauteed onions and added them to the soup, but it didn't make much of a difference.

I wash the lentils, put them in water and boil until done. I add some Vegemite in the beginning and toward the end of cooking, add carrots and a bit of celery. Serve with chopped up jalapeno, carrot and anything else I can think of, but the canned stuff still tastes better to me.

Thanks for your help!

Holly

Answers: Vegetarian Lentil Soup Assistance

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By 05/25/2012

Do you use tomato paste or the vegetarian stock cubes to add flavour. Freshly ground black pepper is good if you like it. I have silverbeet growing and I cut up about 5 leaves and add towards the end.

By 07/13/2005

Thank you Joankay and Ettamae. These are excellent suggestions!

Holly

By 06/22/2005

When the soup is ready, take 3 - 4 cups of the soup and vegetables and puree in the blender, then return puree to the soup. This gives it a thicker, richer flavor.

06/21/2005

Try adding 1/4 to 1/2 tsp sugar or artificial sweetener but not so much as to make it taste sweet. This should work with any green veggie that smells or tastes raw.

By Barb H. (Guest Post) 06/21/2005

I use ham flavored soup base in my soup which you can find by the bouillon. Also a bay leaf or two and canned crushed tomatoes (added towards the end of cooking). Most delicious !