Joni Mitchell’s Lentil Soup Recipe Is So Good, She Eats It for Breakfast

It turns out that I have something in common with Joni Mitchell. It’s that I too, could eat soup for breakfast. Granted, her breakfast usually came around lunch time and mine is usually around 6 a.m., but that’s beside the point. Her soup of choice was a Middle Eastern-inspired lentil soup from the Daily Grill in California. 

According to a story in the Guardian, Mitchell enjoyed a late breakfast that often began with lentil soup. This particular soup was made by sautéing onion and garlic in some butter. Once both were soft, a bit of tomato purée and paprika were added, followed by red lentils, some bulgur, and chicken stock. The soup was left to simmer until the lentils were completely soft, then the soup was puréed until creamy and smooth. It was served with chili flakes, a bit of dried mint, and fresh lemon juice. 

This all sounds delicious to me, so I was eager to make the dish. I decided to cook the tomato purée a bit longer than the two minutes suggested in the recipe. I knew that doing so would add a sweeter tomato flavor and a nice balance to the earthy lentils. I used chicken broth instead of stock because that’s what I had on hand and when the lentils were completely soft, I used my immersion blender to process everything until it was smooth. I also had some fresh mint so I used that in place of the dried and finished the soup with a healthy squeeze of lemon juice.

The results were delicious. Even though the soup cooks only simmers for 30 minutes, it’s enough to develop plenty of flavor. I enjoyed the warm undertones, created from cooking the paprika and tomato purée in butter. The lemon juice and mint were the perfect finishing touches, adding bright acidity and a touch of fresh sweetness to what could’ve been a rather earthy soup. Bottom line, I’d absolutely make this dish again. In fact, there’s a similar soup on Allrecipes that I’m sure will be just as tasty. I’m not sure if I’d eat it for breakfast like Mitchell did, but I would definitely consider it.