Lentil Soup

Although we haven't gotten the massive snow that other areas around the country are dealing with, it has been cccooolllddd here! When the wind is blowing and its so frigid outside I love a nice bowl of soup! My friend Mitchell sent me a great recipe for lentil soup that I made this week and had to share. Its a great "clean-out-your-cabinets" soup. Got some diced tomatoes? Throw them in there! Green pepper? Sure! I'm not sure I'd ever make this soup the same way twice, but its very satisfying no matter what you put in. Here is what you need for the basic recipe, but again feel free to add whatever you think would be good:

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried lentils
• 1 1/2 quarts water
• 1 medium sized onion chopped
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped and peeled
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 6 oz can tomato sauce
• 3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 2 cups chicken, vegetable, or beef broth.

As you can see, I mixed the ingredients up a little bit.

I didn't have any carrots, so I added a can of diced tomatoes. I also increased the amount of cumin and oregano in addition to adding cajun seasoning. Like I said, feel free to play around with the recipe. I also added some sausage for Hunter. Ham would also be a good addition if you wanted to add meat. If not, the lentils have a great flavor all on their own and are very filling.

Put the lentils and water in a crockpot. Chop your vegetables finely and then sauté in a large frying pan until limp and glazed.

Once done, add the vegetables, spices, and cooking broth to crockpot. Top with bay leaf or leaves (I used two).

Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Add tomato sauce, red wine vinegar, and any additional broth (depending on your preferred soup consistency) and cook on high for 30 minutes. I topped mine with a little sour cream and it was the perfect soup for a cold wintery night. Enjoy!