More on Genevieve Whimp’s WWI era thrifty recipes when the U.S. Food Administration asked families to conserve food for troops fighting in Europe. This series is about eating better with less. Lentils gave Whimp’s readers protein without meat, exactly the substitution the U.S. Food Administration urged on its wartime meatless days. She soaks and simmers them slowly, then thickens the pot with a spoonful of flour. Her offhand notes—leaving a few whole lentils in, adding water early—read like advice passed from one cook to another.
Lentil Soup Recipe
1½ to 2 cups lentils
1 onion
Salt
Pepper
Butter
1 teaspoon flour
Directions
Wash the lentils and soak them overnight in cold water to cover. Cook slowly in the same water for 2 or 3 hours with the onion added, adding a little more water when the pot first goes on. Strain, though a few whole lentils may be left in the soup. Season with salt, pepper, and butter, and thicken with the flour made smooth in a little water.
The Chicago Defender, March 30, 1918.