Mizuna + Lentils = Mmm, Mmm Good Soup!

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Earlier this month, before our first snowfall, I unearthed this beautiful bunch of carrots and snipped a few clippings of mizuna and oregano. This was another step along my path of discovery to the wonderful qualities of mizuna -- a plant that I initially lumped into the general category of "lettuce" before I learned that it also works well as a cooked vegetable.


I used these ingredients to make Three Springs Farm's French Lentil Soup with Mizuna, a warming and fragrant blend accented with touches of turmeric and bay leaves. The mizuna was perfect in this and now I am encouraged to use it in the same way I would use spinach or chard to add more color and pizazz -- and more nutrition -- to my homemade soups.


I used regular brown lentils in my version of this recipe, since I didn't even realize there was such as thing as French lentils. It wasn't until about two weeks after this soup-making experience that I discovered a package of French lentils in the store, while I was looking for something else entirely. French lentils are smaller and greener than the ones I used here. I am not sure how they differ in flavor, but I think any kind of lentil or other types of beans would work well in this dish.