My neighbor said my soup was just 'flavored water' and it stung, but she was right

Honestly, I used to think making a cheap meal just meant throwing a handful of lentils and some chopped carrot into a big pot of water. My neighbor, an older lady who grew up on a farm, tried a bowl once and said, 'Robin, this tastes like flavored water. You're boiling the life out of it.' That really stuck with me. I changed my whole method after that. Now I always saute a diced onion in a bit of oil first, until it's soft and smells good. Then I add my spices, like a teaspoon of cumin, and let them cook for a minute before adding the water and lentils. That one extra step, which costs maybe ten cents, makes the whole pot taste like a real meal. It's been about six months since I changed, and I haven't made a pot of flavored water since. Does anyone else have a simple trick that totally changed a basic recipe for them?

2 comments

2 Comments

willowthomas10d ago

Is it really that big of a deal though? I get that it tastes better, but flavored water still feeds you. Sometimes you just need to get food in the pot fast, and a plain lentil soup does the job. Not every meal has to be a project.

leo_mason10d ago

But why eat sad soup when you don't have to?