Yesterday at the grocery store, my impulse buy was a bag of lentils. I mean, for $2, it wasn’t a bad impulse to follow. Lentils are something I’d been wanting to add to my cooking repertoire…they are very cheap and very healthy. I always thought they were difficult to prepare, but they are actually easier to make than other dried beans. They are high in fiber (11 grams per serving!!), folate, and magnesium, which makes them heart-healthy, and they are rich in iron.
So, great, I had this powerhouse bag of lentils, but then I had to decide what to do with them! I was thinking some sort of soup, and then I got this week’s Meatless Monday newsletter in my inbox this morning and they had a lentil soup recipe. Um, perfect!
However, once I started chopping, I decided to put my own spin on it. The original recipe was simple and good, but I added a few things that I think are a pretty nice improvement!
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large sweet potato, skin on, roughly chopped
1 cup of lentils, rinsed and picked over…STAR OF THE SHOW!
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp curry
4 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth
1/4 cup additional low-sodium vegetable broth or 1/4 cup of cream (I used some leftover half-and-half I had)
This Is How We Do It
Heat the olive oil and add the carrots, celery, and onions. I used the mirepoix I bought at Trader Joe’s last week for this and OMG…I hate chopping veggies, so this was a godsend.
I used half the package and will save the other half for my next batch of soup!
Cook for about 3 minutes, until the veggies soften. Add the garlic, sweet potatoes, lentils, cumin, and curry, and stir. Heat for another minute.
Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to low and let simmer for 25 minutes.
For the last 15 minutes, don’t stir at all; the veggies will rise to the top.
Skim the veggies off the top and puree with the cream or extra broth.
Stir the pureed soup back into the pot. It looks like it won’t blend well, but it does! Suddenly you’ve got this creamy veggie soup.
I really like lentil soup. I usually buy Amy’s, but hello, sodium! But even Amy’s doesn’t have the curry spin…which was great, if I do say so myself!
This soup is so thick and filling, but it’s also clearly so healthy. It would be perfect with pita or pita chips and dollop of hummus on top. If you’re serving it to meat-eaters, preparing it with a lamb burger or spicy yogurt chicken would also be off the hook. Seriously…so many options!
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Curry, cumin, and lentil = yum!
For all those who are still thinking about going meatless, I think this might help you. This may also help you if you got bored of the taste of tofu after a while like I did. http://www.lightlife.com/product_detail.jsp?p=gimmeleansausage. I have used the Gimme Lean sausage in stir fries, in sloppy Joe’s, and as meatballs in pasta. My boyfriend who is not vegetarian tells me the taste is pretty good, minus the juicy factor of meat (which is to be expected). I have also used Gimme Lean beef, but somehow I just stuck with buying the sausage version.
While the product is pretty expensive ($4.50 average/1 lb), it does store well in the fridge and makes life more fun as a vegetarian.
That looks so good! Lentils are my fave.
I need to get me some of the TJ’s Mirepoix asap!
.-= Janna (Just Flourishing)´s last blog ..Bamboleo Review and Flying Kettlebells =-.
YUM. I just bought a ton of lentils and I love me some sweet potatoes so I’ll be making this soon! Thanks for sharing.
.-= Teri [a foodie stays fit]´s last blog ..Still Pushing It =-.
That looks delicious! I made a lentil soup for the first time last week. I wasn’t sure how to season it so I mainly just put paprika, if I recall correctly. I’ll try out your way next time…. with the sweet potato, too! I currently have a split pea soup in the fridge waiting for me.