There seems to be a Vospapur  for every day of the week in Armenian cuisine.  Lentils are cheap and a great source of protein and fiber.  You can use brown lentils, but I prefer red lentils because they cook to mush in about 15 minutes.  The beauty of these recipes is that they are flexible.  Just make sure to add water as needed so your lentils don’t burn.  The apricots rehydrate nicely and add just a sweet touch to the soup.  Try it!

EVOO

1 large onion, chopped (I like red)

2 large cloves garlic or about 1 TB jarred

1.5 c. red or brown lentils

1.3 c. chopped dried apricots. (11 of them…. cut with scissors so they don’t stick to your knife blade)

5 c. water + stuff to flavor it to make 6 servings.  In other words, check your bouillon or soup starter for one portion and then make it 4-6 portions.  I like chicken flavored soup starter better than bouillon b/c it’s more chickeny and less salty.

3 plum tomatoes (or regular, doesn’t matter!) chopped

1/2 tsp ground cumin and 1/2 tsp ground thyme

S & P

2 Tb lemon juice.

In a soup pot, sautee onion over medium heat until the color you like.  Then add garlic (don’t add it at the same time b/c it cooks faster than onions and can BURN).  Saute a bit longer.  Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to boil, then simmer until lentils are mushy.  Make sure to check on the consistency from time to time!

When soup is satisfactorily mushy, add 2 Tb lemon juice and simmer a couple mins more.  Stir and enjoy.  You can also puree it but I don’t see the need when the lentils are mushy!

You can also add left over cubed up chicken.  Cajun flavored chicken adds a wee bit of a kick to this sweet and mild soup.