Whiskied Lentil Soup

Yes, you read that right.  I put whiskey into my lentil soup the other day, and it was fantastic - the best lentil soup I have ever made!  They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and I believe it's true.  I was going to make a standard, run of the mill lentil soup, but add some lemony sorrel to it, since I had some sitting in my fridge, but as I began gathering the ingredients, things began to go wrong.  First, I had only two carrots instead of three.  Then, I found that I only had one can of diced tomatoes which I wanted to keep for another recipe later in the week.  And lastly, I had no open bottles of white wine.  So, I scrambled through my cabinets and found some sun dried tomatoes in oil, and decided to glug in a bit of scotch whiskey instead of wine.   This is now my favorite lentil recipe!  Trust me and try it!  I guarantee that you will like it!

Whiskied Lentil Soup

3 carrots (or two if that's all you have), sliced into half-rounds
2 large stalks celery, sliced thinly
1 large onion, chopped
1 Tbs oil from sun dried tomatoes, or olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
10 sun dried tomatoes, chopped
2 C lentils, washed and picked over
1/4 - 1/2 C scotch
8 C water + 5 rounded tsp chicken bouillion granules or chicken broth
3 bay leaves
2 tsp Herbes de Provence, or mixture of your choice, like Italian
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Pick over the lentils carefully, removing any detritus, rinse thoroughly till water runs clear, set aside.  In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, saute the carrots, celery and onion in the oil over medium heat until the onion is translucent, stirring to keep from sticking.  Add in the tomatoes and garlic, bay leaves, herbes, and pepper, stirring well for a few minutes.  Then add the lentils, water or broth and bouillion granules and bring to a simmer.  Add in the scotch whiskey once it is simmering well, partially cover, and simmer until the lentils and carrots are done to your liking, around an hour.  I cooked it for 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Taste for salt - I didn't need any because the bouillion granules were salty enough to flavor the dish.

Oh my, was this delicious!  I sneaked a small portion into a friend's fridge anonymously, and he loved it!  On Monday, when I heated some up in the lunchroom at work, everyone asked what smelled so delicious!  I could eat this every day, and have done exactly that this week!