Spite soup

After a week of delicious REALLY cold weather, followed by 3 days of cool rain, the temperature yesterday skyrocketed back into the 80s. :( I made soup out of spite. This recipe came from my mom and my aunt Pat, who made a version of this soup the other weekend. I omitted tomatoes and basil, threw some jalapeno, used miso instead of stock and collards instead of spinach... these were all substitutions of convenience rather than purposeful ones.

Lentil Soup

Ingredients
1-2 TB olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno, minced
4 cloves garlic
4 carrots, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
2 bay leaves
3 TB dried oregano
6-8 c water
2 c uncooked lentils (I used half green/'French' and half brown), rinsed
2 c collards, middle part removed, chopped
copious amounts of black pepper, to taste
3 TB miso
balsamic vinegar, to taste

Instructions: In large saucepan, saute garlic, onion, and jalapeno in olive oil over medium heat, 5 min. Add carrots and celery, cook for a few minutes, then add bay leaves, oregano, water, and lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30+ min. After 10 min, add the collards. Towards the end, add miso, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Serves 8-12.