We spent several weeks in hotels this past summer as we awaited the completion of our new home. As with any project that involves construction or renovation, the project did not complete on time. When the 12 month lease ran out on our apartment, we were naively optimistic that our house would be done in just a couple of weeks. A couple of weeks turned into a couple of months in the blink of an eye.
While it was initially a fun vacation, what really got tedious was the lack of a kitchen and not being able to cook at all. When we finally stayed in a hotel room with a nice kitchen and a MOM’s Organic Market next door we were really excited. Even my son was tired of restaurant food and just wanted something simple. So with purpose, I gathered my ingredients and made an easy tomato garlic soup served with well cooked basmati rice. If you are like me and tend to go heavy on the garlic, make sure you have adequate ventilation- the one thing the hotel room kitchen did not have! That was our last foray into cooking for the rest of our hotel adventure. As soon as we moved to our new house, I opened up the windows, turned on the kitchen exhaust and made this great soup again!
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 4 large tomatoes, chopped finely
- 1/4 cup red lentils, uncooked
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lime, chopped into quarters
- a handful of chopped cilantro
Method
- Soak the red lentils in some hot water and keep aside.
- Heat the olive oil.
- Add the mustard and cumin seeds.
- When the mustard seeds start to pop, add the garlic and tomatoes.
- Cook until the tomatoes are very pulpy.
- Drain and add the red lentils to the tomatoes.
- Add 3 cups of water.
- Add the salt and pepper.
- Cook for about 20 minutes on low heat, until the red lentils are cooked.
- Add the lime and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro.
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve over rice or as a soup.
