Red lentil and string bean soup

Step-by-step cooking

1. Step 1:

   

   Prepare all the necessary ingredients for the soup with red lentils and string beans. Wash all vegetables and herbs in clean water.

2. Step 2:

   

   Peel potatoes, onions, carrots and garlic. Remove the stalk and seeds from the bell pepper. For the brightness of the finished soup, you can use peppers of different colors. Rinse the lentils several times in water.

3. Step 3:

   

   Cut off the tails of the string beans. If the beans are not very young, then remove the tendrils on the sides, otherwise they will be felt in the finished dish.

4. Step 4:

   

   Cut the potatoes into small cubes, approximately 1cm * 1cm in size. Why cut potatoes so finely? This is necessary so that the cooking time of red lentils, beans and potatoes coincide. In the opposite case, there is a risk that the potatoes will remain damp, or if the potatoes reach full readiness, then lentils and vegetables can turn into porridge. Cut the beans arbitrarily not very large (as in the photo).

5. Step 5:

   

   Cut the carrots into small cubes or, if desired, you can grate them on a coarse grater. Cut the onion not very large, and the tomatoes into small cubes. You can remove the skin from tomatoes beforehand by pouring boiling water over them for a minute. I usually cook tomatoes with peel.

6. Step 6:

   

   In a saucepan with a thick bottom or in a small cauldron, heat the vegetable oil. At high heat, send the carrots, peppers and onions to fry. Periodically stirring the vegetables, cook them for about five minutes.

8. Step 7:

   

   Then add tomatoes and beans to the roast. Stir and reduce the heat to a minimum. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer the vegetables for about 10 minutes. Tomatoes should give juice, check after a couple of minutes if the vegetables are not burnt, mix them. If there is not enough liquid from tomatoes, then add two or three tablespoons of water.

9. Step 8:

   

   The next step is to put the potatoes and lentils in a saucepan. Add salt to taste. Make the fire to the maximum.

10. Step 9:

    

    Pour 700 ml of boiling water to the vegetables and cereals, mix everything well and taste for salt. If required, add salt to taste. After boiling, reduce the stove to medium and cook the soup under a half-closed lid until the potatoes and other components are fully cooked. It took me about 20 minutes.

11. Step 10:

    

    At the end of cooking, add finely chopped garlic and herbs to the soup. Garlic can be passed through a press, or grated on a fine grater. From greens to soup, dill, parsley or green onions are well suited.

12. Step 11:

    

    Let the soup brew for a few minutes and you can serve it to the table! Sprinkle with fragrant or hot ground peppers, if desired.