Lemony Lentil Soup with Greens and Corn and Basil Muffins

Tonight we had soup and corn muffins. Both were very good. In fact they were so good that Jim who served himself 3 times after the first serving accused me of stuffing him. The soup came from a January Better Homes and Garden article.
Soup
2t canola oil
1small onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
12C chicken broth, they say low-sodium, I used my homemade stock
16zo green lentils
1t dried basil
1t dried thyme
1t salt
6 oz kale leaves
3T fresh lemon juice, 1 lemon
1t finely grated lemon peel
After you have chopped the onion, carrot, celery and garlic, heat the oil in a 6 qt. pot. Add the vegetables and sauté for 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn. Add all the stock, lentils, and herbs. Bring to a boil and add the kale. Turn to low and cook for 35 minutes. Add the lemon juice and serve. Top each serving with grated lemon peel.
This soup serves 8 with a meal to follow. Jim had 4 servings; I had 1, so we have a lot left. It was great soup. You could use vegetable stock and make it vegetarian. I don’t think the stock made a difference other than possibly the salt level as mine was homemade.

The corn muffins came from this past Wednesday’s Washington Post from a new cookbook called “Dishing up Maryland.”
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
1 ¼ C flour
¾ C yellow cornmeal
2T sugar
3t baking powder
¾ t salt
1C low fat milk, I used non fat
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ C vegetable oil
1 C frozen corn kernels that have been defrosted
3T minced basil
I messed this recipe up so bad and it was still wonderful. First as the muffins were half done, I realized that I forgot the vegetable oil. Also I read the 3T as1T for the basil. I definitely have to make these again, but for all the mess-ups, they were very good, I can hardly wait to do it right. Nothing different than any other muffin, combine all the dry ingredients. Add the corn kernels to the dry ingredients. Mix the wet together and stir to combine. Spray the muffin tin with oil. Makes 12 muffins

Jim served what he calls the house wine. Gnarly Head, Old vine Zin.