GORDON RAMSAY RECIPES

by Pam on March 30, 2014

… from our spring break adventures. First, we headed down the Historic Columbia River Highway to do our annual spring waterfall hike. We hiked to a few waterfalls before heading into Hood River to play at the Columbia River Gorge. We had a wonderful day.

Latourell Falls

Moss grows everywhere in Oregon

Bridal Veil Falls

Hanging out at the Gorge

A beautiful end to a wonderful day

We took off the next day to head to the Oregon Coast where we rented a little beach cottage. Unfortunately, we had mostly rainy and stormy weather. We kept busy by reading, movie watching, walking on the beach, playing games, putting together puzzles, visiting local art galleries, and exploring the surrounding area. We managed to have a lot of fun and had some quality family time while enjoying the beautiful Oregon Coast.

View from our restaurant – Depoe Bay, Oregon

Playing on the Beach before the storms arrive – Yachats, Oregon

Enjoying a beverage, time with Grace, and listening to the ocean – Yachats, Oregon

Devil’s Punch Bowl – Otter Rock, Oregon

Devi’s Punch Bowl State Park – Otter Rock, Oregon

Visiting the Sea Lions – Newport, Oregon

My silly boy – Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum – Newport, Oregon

Enjoying the hour of sun before another storm hits – Yachats, Oregon

Devil’s Churn – Yachats, Oregon

Checking out the amazing views – Devil’s Churn – Yachats, Oregon

Exploring tide pools & watching the crashing waves – Devil’s Churn – Yachats, Oregon

Our daughter took a glass blowing class before we headed home – Newport, Oregon

It’s good to be back home and I am looking forward to cooking new recipes. I’ll be back to posting tomorrow.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with green lentil soup, but once you start making it with black “beluga” lentils, you’ll have a hard time going back. These black beauties cook up melt-in-your-mouth tender, but still retain their structural integrity, which gives the soup both a thick, satisfying body, and a light, non-starchy mouthfeel.

The flavor is wonderfully meaty, especially when you toss in a handful of bacon, and they require absolutely no finesse to prepare perfectly. Just simmer until you have achieved lentil tenderness, adding broth as needed. That’s pretty much it.

I’m told black lentils are really good for you, which is weird, since I’ve never asked anybody. Nevertheless, this is a soup you can feel good about putting into your body, unlike that “Bacon Jalapeño Popper Chowder” recipe you got off Pinterest. We’re still right in the middle of soup season, so the next time you feel like a hot bowl, I hope you give this black lentil soup a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 large portions:

2 tsp vegetable oil

4 oz bacon

1 cup yellow onion, large dice

1 cup carrots, large dice

1 cup celery, large dice

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne to taste

1 1/4 cup black lentils

5 to 6 cups chicken broth, or as needed
1 bay leaf

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 tsp extra good extra virgin olive oil

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