Recipe for a Relaxed Brunch

I've always longed to have a welcoming house - the type of place where friends and family feel comfortable to rummage around in my refrigerator when a sudden craving arrives, where "mi casa is su casa" and entertaining feels effortless.

Alas, that is not the case. I've become the adult keeping a watchful eye on the crystal and china anytime a toddler visits. And I once had a terrible fight with my brother when he tried to bring an extra couple over for dinner (in my defense, I talked to him after already buying ingredients and before listening to his phone message where he said he was bringing extra appetizers and desserts). I anxiously eye the pork tenderloin, hoping to cook it enough to avoid giving trichinosis to my guests without giving them meat dry as sawdust. In short, fun Mary-me disappears when I'm entertaining and fussy Martha-me appears in a sort of Jekyll and Hyde switch.

But today was different. I invited my parents over for Easter lunch, hoping to pick a meal where I could just relax. At first the worry kicked in - can I make something relatively healthy that both of my parents with polar opposite tastes can enjoy that will not negatively impact my father's blood sugar - but then I lighted on the perfect solution: lentil soup. How can you go wrong with a Caesar salad, a loaf of sourdough bread and a pot of the dish that Esau sold his birthright for? (Wow, two biblical references in one blog post - but it is Easter). So I bought ingredients and started some vegetable broth from my freezer bag of veggie scraps before heading out to 8:30 a.m. choir rehearsal. Returning home at 11:30, I still had time to chop veggies and sausage (Hempler's Andouille), toss a salad and share a Mighty O apple fritter and Zoka mocha with Trent (quite a treat, as we normally frequent doughnut happy hour, when doughnuts are half price and the fritters are long since sold out).

My parents were 15 minutes late - stuck in traffic - but who cares when you've got soup, which only tastes better the longer the flavors meld. We sat, told stories and laughed for 45 minutes before sitting down to dine. Afterwards, we talked until my dad looked as though he was about to fall asleep on the couch. And while I still served them beverages, I like to think that they would have felt comfortable enough to get their own.

No-stress Lentil Soup

Dutch oven full of vegetable broth

1 lb. lentils

2 carrots, chopped

3 celery spears, chopped

one onion, diced

3 Yukon gold potatoes, diced

3 sausages, chopped

pinch of thyme

pinch of marjoram

salt to taste

Fill Dutch oven with vegetable scraps.  Carrot peelings, onion tops and skins or leek tops and celery ends are good. Add one bay leaf and a half dozen peppercorns. Cover with water. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for at least a half hour. Let cool enough so you don't get steam burns and strain vegetables.

Saute sausage in a no-stick pan. Add vegetables and continue to cook until onions are translucent. Add broth. Pick over lentils (okay, I actually don't spend very much time doing this, as I have never once found a stone in the bag) and add to soup. Add thyme and marjoram. Bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer for about an hour or until potatoes and lentils are soft. Salt to taste (which for me isn't much, because of the flavor from the sausage and my tendency towards high blood pressure). This soup will thicken into more of a stew. I suppose you could add more broth or water, but why would you want to?

Serve with crusty french bread, fresh ground pepper if you want to be fancy, an honest smile and a sigh of relief.

Serves four, with lots and lots of leftovers to take to work throughout the week. It will develop an even more complex flavor as time goes by.

What is your favorite low-stress recipe?