Red Lentil and Chicken Soup
Another Version of Esau's Potage
Jim Cummings
Supposedly, Esau sold his birthright to his brother for a bowl of this soup when he had returned from a hunt, tired and hungry. This soup is also called Priest's Soup in Armenia, as the priests are fond of preaching about Esau and perhaps are fond of this soup also. As you can imagine, there are many versions of this soup and who knows which might be the closest to the original. One version uses lamb as the meat, and this I think might be correct since the early Israelites were herders of sheep.
Some archaeologists believe that lentils are the earliest cultivated food crop.
This version is my own, devised from combining what I like best about several other versions.
Ingredients: 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast,
broiled and chopped.
6 cups of chicken broth, canned or home made stock.
1 cup of red lentils and 1/4 cup of Basmati rice.
3 medium onions, sliced and separated into rings.
2 celery stalks and one carrot, chopped.
2 tbs. of minced parsley
1/4 tsp. of paprika, 1/4 tsp. cumin and 1/8 tsp of red pepper
2 tbs. of olive oil.
Sauté the onions until brown and crispy in the olive oil, about half way through adding the celery and carrots. Meanwhile, broil the chicken, after spraying on both sides with a little cooking spray to prevent drying out and to promote browning. Heat the broth and add the lentils and rice. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Add the sautéed vegetables and cook another 20 minutes. Add the spices and cook 5 minutes. Add the chicken and cook another 5 minutes. This soup is very good with whole wheat bread, hot out of the oven or the bread machine.