From the archives, 1910 · 55 min · 8 bowls

Wheldon’s vegetable soup

Name: Wheldon’s vegetable soup
Prep time: 17 min
Cook time: 39 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 8 bowls
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 large cup red lentils (about 1 cup / 200 g); 1 turnip, 2 medium onions, 3 potatoes, 1 carrot, 1 leek; 1 small head celery, a handful of parsley; 1 lb tomatoes; 3½ quarts water (or 2 quarts for a thicker pot); Salt, black pepper (our addition); Olive oil to start the onions (our addition)

Red lentils, the whole vegetable drawer, tomatoes. Public domain. About $10 feeds a crowd.

Home-cook price: About $10 for 8 bowls ($1.25 a bowl) · typical St. Louis grocery, not a quote

Sample image — a modern plate in the spirit of the 1910 recipe, not a photo from the book.

Ingredients

1 large cup red lentils (about 1 cup / 200 g)
1 turnip, 2 medium onions, 3 potatoes, 1 carrot, 1 leek
1 small head celery, a handful of parsley
1 lb tomatoes
3½ quarts water (or 2 quarts for a thicker pot)
Salt, black pepper (our addition)
Olive oil to start the onions (our addition)

Method

1Rinse the lentils. Rough-chop every vegetable — Wheldon says do not peel.
2Warm a little oil, sweat the onion and leek 5 minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables, lentils, tomatoes, and water.
3Boil, then simmer until the lentils collapse, 40–45 minutes. Original: strain through a coarse sieve. We mash a few potatoes against the pot instead.
4Salt until it tastes like dinner. Keeps several days and reheats, as Wheldon promised. Or walk to Tree House on South Grand.

Public domain · 1910

The 1910 plate

Adapted from “1. Vegetable Soup” in No Animal Food; and Nutrition and Diet, with Vegetable Recipes by Rupert H. Wheldon (1910). US public domain. Read the book.

Original: wash and cut vegetables, do not peel, boil until tender, strain through a coarse sieve. We skip the sieve so it stays a stew. No salt in 1910 — add it. 3½ quarts water is a stockpot; a Dutch oven at 2 quarts is enough if you want it thicker.