Whenever people think of vegetarian cooking, they tend to think of lentils. Not always in a good way. And if you’ve had bland lentil dishes at a well-meaning vegetarian’s home before, you have my sympathies. But there is no reason for lentils to be boring in any context at all! You just have to know how to make them interesting.

This lentil soup is my favorite of them all, and it has become my ally for weeks when I’m really pushed for time to prep food. Lentils cook up so quickly, after all. And you can add plenty of greens such as kale or spinach to greatly increase the nutrient content! I make a double batch of this recipe twice a month, and everyone in the house loves it.

Here’s what you need:

- 4 medium or 3 large onions, chopped finely
- 3/4 c. celery, diced (including leaves if desired)
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 bay leaves (can be omitted without hurting the soup)
- 1/2 to 3/4 lb. chopped baby spinach or kale (see below)
- 1-1/2 tsp. dried rubbed sage
- 1-1/2 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/2 lb. carrots, sliced/diced or food processed
- 2 c. assorted lentils (see below), picked over and rinsed
- 8 c. low-sodium veggie broth (or 8 c. water and 3 no-sodium-added vegetable broth cubes)

In a large pot, saute chopped onions and celery in water or 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil over medium-low heat for 7-8 minutes till soft. Reduce heat to low and cook until onions and celery are completely translucent and tender. Add in garlic and spices; cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often.

Add in all remaining ingredients. Stir well.

Add in beans and cook for 20 minutes (or longer — the longer the better the flavors meld). Add up to another 1/2 cup water if needed.

Healthy eating notes:

Carrots: An easy shortcut is to buy prewashed baby carrots. Whole Foods has organic baby carrots that are great, and I always have a couple pounds of them in my fridge for soup making and adding to salads, dipping in hummus, you name it. I personally tend to just throw the baby carrots into my little food chopper and then add them to the soup, though on occasion I take the time to chop them into pretty little carrot slices for aesthetic reasons. The soup gets done more quickly the smaller the carrots.

On lentils: Lentils come in various shapes and sizes. I tend to make this in one of a couple ways. Either I use 1/3 regular green lentils, 1/3 French or beluga lentils and 1/3 red lentils (which are actually orange and dissolve into the soup, making its base creamier), or for simplicity’s sake I do a 75-25 mix of regular green lentils and the little red lentils. If you can only find regular green lentils, so be it; if you want the soup to be creamier, remove a couple cups of it at the end and blend till smooth, then add back to the pot and stir well. The red lentils simply remove the need for this step.

When you make any recipe containing dried legumes, it’s always a good idea to sort them in a large bowl before rinsing them off to remove any debris.

Greens: I am always looking for ways to cut corners on food prep, and prepping greens in particular is something I don’t enjoy. I find organic chopped spinach at Whole Foods that works well as is in this recipe; just pour in the amount you wish to include.

If you choose to use kale, which is more nutrient-dense than spinach and equally, if not more, delicious in this recipe, you can simply remove the kale leaves from the stalk and blend the raw kale with some of the broth or water prior to cooking. Simply put the leaves and some water in your blender canister, cover and blend till the kale is in tiny pieces. I use the large canister of my Vita-Mix to do this all the time.

Bear in mind that when you blend greens with water (I’ve done kale and spinach lately for different recipes), it makes the soup base very, very, very bright green (and sometimes a wee bit foamy) initially, and then turns a dull green once it’s fully cooked, which might not thrill everyone. I tend to use chopped greens for company :) and save the blended stuff for my household’s use. The blended greens are actually better for you because you get more of the phytonutrients (plant nutrients) that way, but I know not everyone is quite as greens-oriented as we are.

Notice that I do not add any salt to this (or any other) recipe; we get plenty of sodium from the whole foods we eat, though you can salt to taste if you wish.

Copyright 2009 Jennifer McCay

www.LeanGreenMama.com