Yellow Lentil Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Yellow Lentil Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

On our monthly outings to the Detroit suburbs from downtown Detroit (Michigan), my mother and I would often go to Dearborn for Syrian-Lebanese food.

One of my favorite foods was a yellow lentil soup that was less spicy than an Indian dal and more liquid.  The name of the soup was shorbat ads, which I ate with warm pita slices.

You will need a crockpot and an immersion blender to make this recipe.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 cup yellow lentils

-8 cups water for soaking

-8 cups water for cooking + more as needed

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 large, peeled, and chopped onion

-1 teaspoon dry garlic

-1 (12-ounce) can chicken stock

-32 ounces water

-1/2 cup lemon juice

-olive oil and paprika to garnish the soup

Steps:

1-Soak lentils overnight in 8 cups water.  Lentils sometimes double in size.  The next day, rinse and drain lentils.  Set aside.

2-Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes in a skillet.

3-Add lentils, chicken stock, water, and onion mixture to crock pot.  Turn heat to high and cook for 10 hours.

4-When the lentils are soft, turn the heat off and let the soup cool.  Insert the immersion blender and purée lentils till smooth.

5-Reheat soup.  Stir in lemon juice and top with olive oil and paprika.

Serve with warm pita bread (pocket bread).

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Goulash Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Goulash Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Goulash is a Hungarian Chili Con Carne without pinto beans.  Goulash is made minus the pinto beans, but with the addition of sour cream and paprika.  I ate lots of Hungarian food growing up when I ate lunch at Detroit’s Hungarian bar-restaurants with my mother’s Hungarian friends.

During the Cold War Era, eating at Eastern European restaurants was an act of supporting liberation movements in Eastern Europe.  These restaurants were all outlets for bilingual newspapers with news of what was happening in the Soviet Union and their country.  I read all that I could and could not believe these agricultural countries had people waiting in lines for groceries.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 pound hamburger meat with fat

-1 large chopped onion

-2 (12-ounce) cans diced tomatoes

-1 cup sour cream

-2 tablespoons paprika from Szeged

Steps:

1-Brown hamburger meat with onions.  No pink should remain in the meat.

2-Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes to the meat.  Mix and cook for 15 minutes.

3-Add sour cream and paprika and cook for 10 minutes.

Serve with Italian red wine like Valpolicella and bread with sesame seeds.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Tomato-Egg Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Tomato-Egg Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Chef Lee’s Restaurant in Marina (California) used to do a Tomato-Egg Flower soup in the 1990s that I loved as a starter.  I recreated something similar at home that does not use the same ingredients and is more Italian than anything else.  It retains the nutritious egg in the recipe though.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 (12-ounce) can chicken broth

-8 cups water

-2 tablespoons tomato paste

-1 cup macaroni pasta

-2 beaten eggs

-1 tablespoon oregano

Steps:

1-Place chicken broth, water, tomato paste, and pasta in a soup pot.

2-Bring soup to a boil and let boil for 30 minutes.

3-Remove soup from heat.  Mix in beaten eggs and oregano till they form threads.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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Chili Con Carne Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Chili Con Carne Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

“Con carne” means “with meat” in Spanish.  I often ate chili con carne on Coney Island hot dogs as a teen in Detroit (Michigan).  There was a Coney Island chain that had an outlet in the Renaissance Center next to where I went ice skating at Hart Plaza.  I loved eating these and Greek food in downtown Detroit.  My version at home had even more calories in it.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 pound hamburger meat with some fat

-1 large, peeled, and chopped onion

-1 (12-ounce) can tomato sauce or tomato soup

-1 (12-ounce) can diced tomatoes

-2 cups water

-1 cup grated Colby cheese

-1 cup sour cream

Steps:

1-Brown hamburger meat with onions.  No pink should remain in the meat.

2-Add tomato sauce, pinto beans, diced tomatoes, and water.

3-Mix the stew and heat for 30 minutes.

Serve with shredded Colby cheese and sour cream on the side.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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Chili Mac Stew Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Chili Mac Stew Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

This stew makes excellent use of ground beef with a little fat in it.  I ate this all the time when I was a teen in Detroit (Michigan) after ice skating at Hart Plaza on the riverfront by the Renaissance Center.

Serves 4

-1 pound hamburger meat

-1 large chopped onion

-1 (12-ounce) can tomato sauce or tomato soup

-1 (12-ounce) can pinto beans

-1 (12-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green pepper

-1 (14.5-ounce) can drained corn

-2 cups water

-1 cup cooked macaroni pasta (Muellers is great for this dish)

-1 cup shredded Colby cheese

Steps:

1-Brown hamburger meat with onions.  No pink should remain in the hamburger meat.

2-Add tomato sauce pinto beans, diced tomatoes with green peppers, drained corn, and water.

3-Mix stew and heat for 30 minutes.

4-Add cooked macaroni pasta and heat for 5 minutes more.  Serve in individual bowls with grate cheese on top.

I use Monterey Jack instead of Colby now that I live in Monterey County California.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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