Had time to cook today, so I got this recipe from the GOYA lentil bag.

~ While I got a "clean" bag of lentils on my end, you want to make sure the lentils are good and rinsed in a colander, and also go through them with a fork or your hands to be sure there are no stones or etc. ~

Ingredients:

2 ham hocks
A good handful of baby carrots (about a cup), chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 bag lentils
1 - 2 cloves garlic chopped (used 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic)
2 bay leaves (optional, but I find these add a bit more depth to the soup)
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups water*
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube
2 - 3 tablespoons good quality olive oil

To make:

Its really a one pot meal folks - so all you need is one decent sized stockpot...

Coat with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil inside the pot...

Get your pot to a high heat and sear the ham hocks first - make sure all sides are good and browned...

Then add in your veggies, saute until translucent -

Add in your water, BUT with the bouillon cube - make sure you save at least 1 cup of water to dilute that cube first!

Then add in your rinsed lentils, get to a boil, and then turn down the soup to a low heat/simmer and cook for one hour.

* When cooking, the lentils will soak up a lot of moisture. So here, I also added in another cup or so of leftover chicken stock to the soup. Some folks might like the texture of whole lentils, some might not - and if not, just use a hand blender to get a smoother texture.

You can fish out the bay leaves easily enough, and as for the ham hocks (use your tongs to take those out) - just cut off the fatty parts, chop up any meat left on the bones and put those right back in the soup; as for the bones and all the rest, they can be composted / garbaged, they've done their job.

Very good and filling folks, hope you give this a try!

Enjoy!!