Samstag, 6. November 2010

Vegan Mofo Day 6: Sweet and Sour Lentilsoup


This is what I had for saturdays lunch and dinner.
In the rhineland and also in most other parts of germany it's an old tradition to have a hearty soup on saturday, because this is a great way to use the leftovers of the week.
These soups are mostly called "Eintopf" which literaly means onepot, a "Eintopf" is something in between soup and stew. Lets say it's a very thick and nutrious soup. A "Suppe" (soup) is usually very thin and based on a clear broth with just a few pieces of vegetables and meat inside and "Suppe" is also tradtionally used as a starter as "Eintopf" is a main dish.
This lentilsoup "Linsensuppe" is based on brown lentil cooked in vegetable broth with some pieces of "Suppengrün" inside. "Suppengrün" is a classical mix of vegetables used to cook a broth or soup, most of the time it's a mix of celariac, carrots, leek and sometimes a tiny bunch of parsley. They sell packed bundles of this mix in nearly every store here and if it's not to expensive I think, that it is quiet economical because you don't have to buy a whole celaric and all the other vegetables as you just get the excat amount of vegetables you need for your dish.
I chopped the vegetables alsong with an onion, and lightly fried them along with some canola oil, some leftovers of smoked tofu, some sliced vegan miniweiners and some cubes of tempeh. Then I added some water, some vegetable stock powder, a teaspoon of vegemite, a tablespoon of nooch, 2 teaspoons liquid smoke and a big can of brown lentils. Then I simmered evrything until it was a bit thicker. Then the sweet and sour part of the thing entered the stage. When you serve it, you put a bowl of sugar and a bottle of vinegar on the table and everyone makes his or her own sweet and sour mix. I prefer the same amount of vinegar and sugar (that's a tablespoon of each for one plate). I also had some traditional bread with rye and wheatflour and sourdough to suck up the liquid. M wife complain, that there were no potatoes inside, so this is a great example to show that the recipes for some dishes even very from family to family and you can never figure out one recipe that's exactly the original.
I liked the soup very much and also liked the fact to turn some leftovers and a cheap can of lentils into something that's unbelieveable warming, delicious and satisfying. So I think, that I am going to keep this saturdaylunch tradition, when the project will be over.
If you want a step by step recipe, than you have to tell me and I will add it to te post.
Today I am preparing sundays lunch which is always the most festive meal of the week in germany and the dish will be "Sauerbraten", which is a unique kind of meatloaf marinated in vinegar, wine, vegetables and whole spices. I am so exited if it turns out great or if it will fail. So far I can say, that the raw and marinated seitan smelled exactly like the original loaf based on beef, so stay tuned for a brand new recipe.

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