Lentil soup with gremolata yogurt

Grate lemon zest with a microplane, planting its tip and moving the lemon.

Press the garlic and immediately cover with olive oil and stir to slow the reactions that make it pungent.

Add most of the chopped parsley, season with salt, MSG and black pepper; this gremolata is the finishing sauce. Save the rest of the parsley.

Dice carrots, onions and celery to a quarter to an eighth of an inch.

Heat a few tablespoons to a quarter cup of extra virgin olive oil and sweat the vegetables on moderately high heat until soft and translucent but not brown, 4 to 5 minutes.

Stir in about half the gremolata and the saved parsley.

Add the brown lentils and fry gently in the vegetables until very lightly toasted, as for risotto or pilaf.

Add a quart of chicken broth.

Cut the potato into planks, strips, then tiny chunks, and add with a bay leaf.

Bring to a simmer and cook until the lentils are tender, 20 to 45 minutes depending on the lentils; it took about 30.

Remove the bay leaves; lentils and potatoes should be fully tender, not al dente.

Pulse a few times with a hand blender to leave it part chunky, part smooth.

Variation: stir the remaining gremolata into yogurt as a sauce.

Add lemon to the soup and the yogurt, more fresh parsley to both; taste and season for salt, pepper, olive oil and acidity. Whisk the gremolata yogurt.

Serve in a bowl with the gremolata yogurt.