Spicy Moroccan Lamb and Lentil Soup

This is a delicious soup from the Mediterranean Instant Pot - Easy, Inspired Meals for Eating Well cookbook.

Serves 6-8       
Total Time 1 hour
 
Ingredients
 
1 lb of lamb shoulder chops (blade or round bone), 1-1 1/2 inches thick, trimmed and halved
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup harissa
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
8 cups chicken broth
1 cup green lentils, rinsed
1 15-oz can of chickpeas, rinsed well
2 tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
 
Directions
 
Pat the lamb dry with paper towels and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Using highest sauté function, heat oil in instant pot for 5 minutes (or until just smoking). Place lamb in pot and cook until well browned on the first side, about 4 minutes, transfer to plate.
 

Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt to fat left in pot and cook, using highest sauté function, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in harissa and flour and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in broth, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps. Stir in the lentils, then nestle lamb into multicooker and add any accumulated juices.

Lock the lid in place and close pressure release valve. Select high pressure cook function and set for 10 minutes. Turn off instant pot and quick-release pressure. Carefully remove lid, allowing steam to escape away from you.

Transfer lamb to cutting board, let cool slightly, then shred into bite-size pieces, using 2 forks; discard excess fat and bones. Stir lamb and chickpeas into soup and let sit until heated through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top individual portions with tomatoes and sprinkle with cilantro. Sprinkle, passing extra harissa separately.  
 
My notes:
 
Next time add the entire bag of green lentils.

I diced the onion rather than finely chopped. 

I used canned diced tomatoes.
I purchased the harissa at Harris Teeter (Asian food section)
For the lamb I had the Coscto Kirkland Australian lamb chops, cut into chunks; later cutting into bite-size pieces, as well as removing all the meat from the bones.
It took 17 minutes for the instant pot to come to pressure.

Soup & Dessert recipes from my book club

Every February (this is the third year), our book club hosts a soup night.  The following are some of the recipes that were made. Everything was delicious.

Tamee made a Maryland Crab Soup:

Here's the link: https://www.mccormick.com/old-bay/recipes/soups-stews/maryland-crab-soup  

Tamee stated small cut-up potatoes can be added. Doubling it will fill a crockpot to its brim.

Donna made red lentil soup:

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil

4 medium carrots, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
14 ounces vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup dried red lentils
1 (5 ounce) bag baby spinach

Directions

In a 4 quart saucepan, cook carrots and onion in oil 6-8 minutes until light brown and tender. Add cumin and cook, while stirring, one more minute. Add tomatoes, broth, lentils, 2 cups water, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Heat to boiling, then simmer for 10 minutes or until lentils are done. Add spinach and serve.

Notes

To reduce sodium, use no salt added tomatoes, low sodium broth and/ or omit salt.

Donna's comments:  I used low sodium broth, regular tomatoes and omitted the salt from this evening’s soup.

Desserts:

Cheryl O made a blueberry cobbler: 

https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/wprm_print/crockpot-blueberry-cobbler

She substituted wheat flour for all purpose flour and used monk fruit in the raw zero calorie sugar substitute instead of regular sugar.

Candy made a gingerbread with a lemon curd.

https://sugarspunrun.com/gingerbread/

https://sugarspunrun.com/lemon-curd-recipe/

Lentil Salad

Donna made this delicious salad for our book club last night (6 March 2024). Everyone loved it!

Ingredients
 
1 can lentils
1 cup finely diced carrots
1/3 cup finely diced celery
1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 garlic clove, minced
5 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1 Tsp kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
 
Directions

Combine and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Lentil Salad

I purchased a box of steamed lentils from Trader Joes.  I made this salad for a recent pool party/book club.

Ingredients

1 lb bag of Trade Joes Lentils 
1 yellow bell pepper, diced 
1 small celery stick, diced
2 T diced onion
1 green onion, chopped
1 T chopped fresh parsley
Dash of hot sauce
Dash of Cumin and curry powder
Splash of red wine vinegar
3 T extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 oz or so of feta cheese

Directions:

In a large bowl, break up with lentils, as they are vacuum sealed and needs to be fluffed up. It's easy to do by hand, rather than by fork.

Add the remaining ingredients, except the feta cheese, and toss to mix.  Gently fold in the feta cheese. 

Place in a serving bowl and top with more feta cheese to finish. 

My Notes:

Adjust ingredients if needed. 

Next time I'll use a red bell pepper to add more color. And I may add some diced cherry tomatoes.

I may also make a lemon-dijon dressing the next time I make this.

Spicy Lentil and Sausage Soup

This is a quick recipe to make. Adjust the amount of red pepper flakes to your taste.
 
2 Italian hot sausage links (I used Italian style hot turkey sausage)
1 T. Olive oil
1 large clove of garlic, minced
About 1/4 of a small onion, diced
1 19-oz can Progresso Lentil Soup
3 baby carrot’s, diced
1 Small tomato, diced, seeded
1 cup chicken broth
Red pepper flakes
Thyme, Basil, Oregano, Parsley; Salt and Pepper to taste
 
 
In a pan, cook the sausage until brown, breaking up into pieces. 
 
In a large pot, add the olive oil and sauté the garlic and onions. 
 
Add the lentil soup, sausage, and remaining ingredients. 
 
Adjust seasoning as necessary. 
 
Cook on low heat for 15 minutes.
 
Serve with grated parmesan cheese. 
 
Serves 4.

(November 2004)

Lentil & Quinoa Soup

Recently I was in the mood for lentil soup. I looked online site for recipes and found several good ones. I wanted to use my Instant Pot, so I followed this recipe with some adaptation: 
 
https://profusioncurry.com/lentil-quinoa-soup-instantpot/?fbclid=IwAR3T2x7z4ANRczVvcXYAWvUyURKlMLYWYigYeZ1wXteu4SYtWmYQ_tH-aJI
 
In bold are my additions/changes
 
1 cup dry brown or green lentils washed and rinsed
1/2 cup quinoa rinsed
4 carrots chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups water or broth [I used low fat, low sodium chicken broth]
Added 1 can of diced tomatoes with the juices
Splash of dry white wine (about 3 tablespoons)
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Umami Seasoning Blend (optional ) [I didn’t have this so I added a bunch of mushrooms, sliced, along with a teaspoon or so of Dijon mustard, some red pepper flakes, and dried thyme]
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot. Stir.

Close the lid. Switch the vent to "sealing". Choose MANUAL ( Pressure cook) mode, choose High Pressure and adjust the time to 12 minutes. It will take around 10 minutes to get up to pressure.

When the InstantPot beeps after cooking, wait on KEEP WARM timer for 5 minutes. Then move the valve to "venting". After the pressure is released, and pin is down, carefully open the lid.

Give the soup a good stir. Adjust the seasoning. Squeeze a quarter of lemon or stir in lemon juice. Adjust the seasoning. Add some fresh cracked black pepper on top and garnish with fresh herbs.
 
I topped the soup with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Instant Pot Sausage Lentil Stew

  

I made this 11 December 2019 – my changes are in  [  ]

Prep Time 10 minutes    Cook Time 25 minutes   Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 8

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb Italian sausage  [I used a combination of sweet and hot; 6 links, which came to 1 lb 2.7 oz total]

1 large onion chopped [I had 3/4 of a large onion on hand]

2 stalks celery chopped [I used 3 stalks]

3-4 carrots peeled and chopped

3 cloves garlic minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon salt

29 oz canned diced tomatoes

5 cups chicken stock  [Only had 4 cups chicken stock, so I added 1/4 white wine and 3/4 cup beef broth]

1 1/2 cups dry lentils rinsed and picked over (preferably French Green Lentils)

1 cup finely chopped kale (optional)

Press the SAUTE button on the instant pot and let preheat for 1-2 minutes. Add the olive oil and Italian sausage. Cook, breaking into small pieces with a spoon, until no longer pink.

Add the onion, celery and carrot. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the vegetables start to soften. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and salt.

Add the diced tomatoes, chicken stock, and lentils. Stir to combine.

Close the instant pot [turn the dial to pressure cook] and press MANUAL and set timer for 10 minutes. When the time is up let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release the rest of the steam.

Stir in the chopped kale. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese if desired. Enjoy!

Recipe from: https://meaningfuleats.com/instant-pot-sausage-lentil-stew/