Winter Soup

Time for soup!?!  This year Heath and I have been enjoying the wonderful array of lentils available in the dried bin section of our Sprouts supermarket. After exploring the many varieties, I offer you a quick summary of your choices and which one we recommend for our favorite lentil soup. Compared to other types of dried beans, lentils are relatively quick and easy to prepare. They readily absorb a variety of wonderful flavors from other foods and seasonings, are high in nutritional value and are available throughout the year. They come in brown, green, red, and all shades in between. From what we have tried we notice the brown and green varieties being the best at retaining their shape after cooking and have a mild earthy flavor.  The red are the sweetest and nuttiest of the lentils and tend to get mushy when cooked,  so they’re perfect for thickening up our favorite lentil soup recipe.

Easy Lentil Soup: (serves 4)

3/4 cup Red Lentils( our preference) or Green Lentils

4 Garlic Cloves (at least) chopped

1 Onion chopped

4 Celery Stalks chopped

4 Carrots chopped

Veggie/Chicken Stock or Water

Juice of 1 Lemon (or more for your taste)

1/4 tsp Cumin (or more) & Salt

Instructions:

Sauté the Garlic, Onion, Celery in olive oil until flavor is released.

Add all other ingredients,  except the lemon  add at the very end.

Simmer.

Feel free to add more or less of anything. We suggest taking some liberty with the recipe and have fun with finding the perfect blend of ingredients and flavor for your taste. Depending on our mood we will blend all ingredients until smooth or just let simmer in the pot for at least 20 minutes. I think you will find this is a good starting point for a cup of warm deliciousness. Sending Warmth to you and yours as we approach the winter season. Enjoy.