Holy Trinity...this is not a religious post!

As I was cooking ginger lentil stoup (thicker than a soup but thinner than a stew) today, I started thinking about what I consider my holy trinity: carrots, onions, celery and garlic then I started thinking about the fact that a trinity represents a threesome not a foursome so I decided to find out if a trinity could include four ingredients.  Here’s what I found:

Each type of cuisine has a different “trinity”.  French cuisine, for example, has carrots, onions and celery, is sautéed in butter and is called a mirepoix (meer-PWAH) while a trinity in Italian cuisine includes carrots, onions and celery sautéed in olive oil and sometimes includes garlic...bingo!  I am now calling my “holy trinity” a soffritto.    

Since I’m on the topic of cooking, I guess this is a good time to share a recipe. 

Disclaimer: Although I need quantities to successfully reproduce a recipe, I don’t actually measure anything if it’s a dish that I’ve tweaked and am very comfortable cooking.  

Ginger Lentil Stoup *

*I learned from Rachael Ray that you can prepare a stew, soup or stoup...it all depends on the amount of veggie broth that you add to the pot (don’t forget that the lentils absorb the liquid as they cook!)

Olive oil

Onions (chopped)

Carrots (chopped)

Celery (chopped)

Garlic (grated)

Ginger (grated)

Green lentils

Canned tomatoes (my favourite canned tomatoes are Thomas’ Utopia Organic Diced Tomatoes – No Salt Added)

Veggie broth (my favourite veggie broth is the PC Organic Vegetable Broth which is salty so I don't add any salt to this dish)

Ground coriander
Fresh cilantro (chopped)

      1.      Sauté soffritto (onions, carrots, celery and garlic) in olive oil (I guess that’s now implied!)

2.      Once vegetables are sautéed, add grated ginger.

3.      Make room in the pot for another splash of olive oil and to lightly sauté the lentils (don’t let them get brown).  Stir the veggies and lentils together. 

4.      Add can of tomatoes (the size of the can depends on the amount of tomatoes you want in your stoup).  Stir. 

5.      Add veggie broth (the amount used depends on whether you want a soup, stew or stoup).  Stir.

6.      Add ground coriander.  Stir.

7.      Bring to a boil then simmer until the veggies are soft and the flavors have melded.

8.      A few minutes before serving, add the chopped cilantro (it will turn brown if you add it too early).   

ENJOY!!!

The ginger lentil stoup was made in my new cast iron dutch oven (Christmas gift!).  As I type this, I can't help but wonder if typing "cast iron" before "dutch oven" is redundant...are all dutch ovens cast iron?  I guess that's a post for another day :)