A spicy, herbed, thick soup with tomato created by Myra in 1959.
Myra's Restaurant had 6 or 8 soups available every day. When the cook made a certain soup, staff had to call people on a special list because they would want to order quarts to take home.
Myra created this lentil soup recipe in 1959. After my brother was born, she played around with this recipe while she was home taking care of us kids.
The street that the restaurant was on in Cincinnati, Calhoun Street, was right across the street from the University of Cincinnati. At one point, it was one of the most densely populated areas in the midwest. Myra wanted to have food on the menu that was within a student's price range, tasted good and was not fast food. There weren’t very many places to eat in 1978 when she started her restaurant. And there are 10 hospitals within a mile radius of her restaurant. When she was in hospital in her later years, EVERYBODY knew her, because all the nurses had ordered take out from her restaurant for 37 years.
Recipe
Myra's Lentil Soup
Equipment
- 1 crock pot OR 4 quart soup pot
Ingredients
- 3 cups lentils washed and drained
- 3 cups crushed tomatoes
- 1 ½ cups chopped onion
- 1 tbl chopped garlic
- 1 tbl chopped Greek pickled peppers such as pepperoncini
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teas thyme rounded
- 1 teas oregano rounded
- 1 teas dry mustard rounded
- 1 teas basil rounded
- 1 teas mild chili powder rounded
- ½ teas celery seed rounded
- ½ teas cumin rounded
- ½ teas black pepper rounded
- 1 tbl salt rounded
Instructions
- In a crock pot: add all the ingredients, fill to ½ inch from the top with water.
- cook on high for 8 hours
- On the stove top: add 3 cups of water and cook on medium low for 2 hours, stirring occasionally
- Serve with grated cheddar cheese and sliced green onions
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