LENTIL SOUP WITH BEEF

 
Do you ever rip recipe pages from magazines that don't belong to you?  I do it all the time, especially with my mom's magazines.  She knows this and forbids me from tearing out any of her pages.  "Because, Katie, what if I want to make that recipe some day?!"  How dare she!  So I have to take tiny little pictures with my phone of the recipes I like.  Poor me.

Anyway, I saw this recipe in her Family Circle magazine and it sounded scrumptious!  I've always wanted to cook with dry beans, and this sounded like an easy introduction.  The recipe calls for sirloin steak, which is fairly affordable.  I couldn't find any at the store, so I ended up purchasing some other Angus boneless steak.  It's going to be cooked for 8 hours in a crockpot, so whichever cut you choose, it'll be cooked to tender perfection.

Cut your meat into equal sized pieces to ensure even cooking.  Brown in a skillet with olive oil, salt and pepper.  This will give your soup a richer flavor.  If you're short on time you can just throw raw meat in the crockpot.  The only change I made to the recipe was to add a can of petite diced tomatoes, dried oregano and salt.  I also upped the amount of all the veggies to boost the nutrition!  You can serve as a soup, or make it a filling meal and serve over cooked egg noodles.  I am addicted to pasta, so I chose the latter.

Ingredients

1 lb boneless sirloin steak
4 cups beef broth
1 cup water
1 cup lentils, rinsed and drained (1/2 a lb)
1 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
1 can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 heaping teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

Trim fat from meat and cut into equal sized pieces, about 3/4 an inch.  Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in nonstick skillet.  Add meat, season with salt and pepper then cook until browned.  Add meat to crockpot.  Add remaining ingredients.  Stir to combine.  Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours.  Taste and add additional salt as needed.  Serve over egg noodles or as a soup.  *Note: you may notice fresh parsley in the pictures and the original recipe, but I don't think it belonged in this soup.  It was an unwelcome surprise to bite into, and I will omit it next time.