Tags
diet, low calorie, low carb, type 2 diabetes, vegan, vegetarian, weight loss
If you have these basic ingredients in your pantry, you can make a warm and satisfying lentil soup.
You will need these ingredients:
- 4 cups chopped vegetables (Usually 2 cups onion, 1 cup celery and 1 cup carrots)
- 1 cup of lentils (rinsed, drained and picked over as per package instructions)
- 6 cups of bouillon (Vegetable to keep things vegan, otherwise chicken works well)
- A little oil (1or 2 tablespoons depending on type of pan you are using)
- Salt and pepper, about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp each
To cook, follow these steps:
- Heat oil in pan at medium high temperature
- Add 4 cups chopped vegetables to pan.
- Sprinkle salt and pepper over vegetables and stir together
- Stir-fry until vegetables soften, about 5 minutes
- Add lentils and stir for a few minutes to combine
- Add bouillon and stir until it boils
- Cover and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour until lentils are tender
- Note: While simmering, check if more liquid is needed and add if it is needed.
To serve, you can leave the soup as it is right now, where you can still see some of the individual components (below). Or, you can blend half to be smooth, and keep half as is. Or, you can blend all of it for a totally smooth lentil soup.
This is the way I like to serve my soup, garnished with leaves from the celery stalks:
There are many variations possible to this basic lentil soup, including:
- If you like garlic, add 1 or 2 minced garlic cloves to oil
- If you like cumin or coriander, add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. of each to oil
- If you like bacon, use scissors to cut 1 slice into ~20 thin vertical strips and render fat out in hot pan, leaving pieces flabby, not crispy. Cook the chopped vegetables in the bacon fat, adding extra oil if needed, and leaving bacon pieces in pan.
- If you like tomatoes, up to 2 of the 6 cups of bouillon can be replaced with your overripe tomatoes, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce or marinara.
- If you like the flavor of bay leaves, add a bay leaf to the liquid before simmering
Whenever I feel that it’s “Time to Weigh Less”, I stick with this basic lentil soup recipe.
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