I made a great comfort food this week, filled with tons of protein from the lentils and lots of whole ingredients. I have only ever had lentil soup once, and it was not my favourite dish as I remember it being very thick and tasting only like beans. However, it is a dish I have always wanted to like as I like many of the common ingredients in the soup. I was, therefore, really excited to try this recipe.

Before making this recipe, I had never used a Dutch oven before. I typically make soups in a large pot and have never naturally reached for a Dutch oven. One of their appeals and specialties is that they are large but evenly distribute heat very well, which I have encountered before when parts of my soup have been lukewarm and other bowls are steaming hot. I was impressed with how the Dutch oven did just this, and I see its value for larger batches of recipes.

I had all of the ingredients for this recipe ahead of time, but I can certainly see how the price of this meal would add up if I were buying the ingredients from scratch. The only difference between the original recipe and mine was that I did not use fresh parmesan, but I have always been skeptical if this makes a huge difference. It will be something that I will have to test in the future.

I did not find this recipe hard to make, but I did find it more time-consuming than the other recipes, as I prepped all of the ingredients alongside making this recipe and found it took about 10 minutes to get the ingredients in before the soup simmered for half an hour. That being said, I enjoyed the soup and enjoyed having fresh ingredients. I did not find it as thick as the other lentil soup I had tried, which I preferred. One thing I was not familiar with was cooking lentils, so I found myself somewhat estimating when I thought they were ready. They were a bit hard, but in the future, I would just give it an extra 3 minutes.

I took this recipe over the next few days and tried it hot and cold. It is reheated well, but I would not say it is a recipe made to be eaten cold. It is a recipe that I would have to be mindful of if I will be able to reheat it over the following days, but I think it would freeze well if I were to make a batch and put some aside for dinners. In all, I enjoyed this soup and found that the lentils kept me quite full after having it. I would say this recipe is more time-consuming, and it was about an hour until I was sitting down to eat. It is not as good cold if I do not have access to a microwave when taking it as a meal. It is a recipe I would certainly enjoy as a dinner and is one that I would love to make and have family over to enjoy.

Next, I will finish off this inquiry process by making my final recipe: the eggplant rollatini. I am excited to cook with eggplant again but am blown away that this project is coming to an end. However, I cannot wait to put my final cookbook together with realistic, delicious recipes that incorporate more variety into my diet!