This was a very easy and hearty soup, perfect for a cold and rainy fall evening.
Total Time: approximately 2 hours
Yield: 8
Source: I adapted my friend Lisa's basic recipe for lentils.
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups lentils
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 cup spaghetti sauce or 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 qt vegetable broth
- salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste
- 1 bunch Swiss chard, chopped
This recipe used what I had on hand. You could substitute or leave out pretty much any of these ingredients to suit your family's taste. I often make a similar soup with noodles instead of lentils and call it Spaghetti Soup.
Steps:
- Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot, over medium heat. Add onions, then garlic. Cook until slightly softened.
- Add lentils and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add celery and stir, then add mushrooms after a minute or two, then carrots. Allow to cook off the excess moisture for a few minutes. Add in spaghetti sauce, vegetable broth and seasonings.
- Increase heat to bring soup to just a boil, then turn to low and simmer until lentils are cooked. I cooked my soup for about two hours on low but I'm sure it would have been ready sooner.
- Add more water to give the soup the right consistency. Just before serving, check seasonings and make adjustments as necessary. Add Swiss chard and cook for about 5 more minutes before serving.
Cheese would have been a wonderful garnish to this soup. I served it with a green salad but it would have been nice to have bread too.
