Lentils Monastery Style

Inspired by the simple, filling meals of monastery kitchens, this lentil and brown rice soup is built on a base of sauteed onions and carrots with dried thyme and marjoram. Plum tomatoes and tomato paste add body, and everything simmers together in chicken broth until the lentils are creamy and the rice is tender.

The finishing touch is what makes this recipe worth bookmarking: a splash of vinegar stirred into each bowl right before serving. That little bit of acid brightens the whole pot and cuts through the earthy richness of the lentils. Top with grated Parmesan and you’ve got a one-pot meal that feels like it’s been slow-cooked all day but comes together in under an hour.

This is sturdy, soul-warming food. The kind of thing you want simmering on the stove when the weather turns cold.

Chef Tips

• Don’t skip the vinegar. That half teaspoon per bowl lifts the flavor dramatically. Without it, the soup can taste flat.
• Sauteing the herbs with the aromatics for a full minute blooms their oils and deepens the flavor throughout the pot.
• Brown rice takes longer than white to cook, so it goes in at the start with the lentils. Don’t substitute white rice without adjusting timing.
• Let leftovers sit overnight. Like most lentil soups, this one tastes even better the next day.

Variations

• Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth to make this fully vegetarian.
• Stir in a handful of fresh spinach or kale in the last five minutes of cooking.
• Swap the Parmesan for crumbled feta and add a squeeze of lemon for a Mediterranean spin.