Lentil Soup

Lentil soup is one of my favorite winter meals, it's easy to make, hearty, delicious and healthy.  Lentil soup can easily be made vegetarian, stove top or in a crock pot or pressure cooker.

With 30% of the calories in lentils coming from protein, lentils have the third highest protein content, after soy beans and hemp. Lentils contain essential amino acids, and are an essential, inexpensive source of protein in many parts of the country. Lentils are also a good source of fiber, potassium, folate, phosphorous, iron and other vitamins and minerals.

LENTIL SOUP

28 oz can or fresh tomatoes, chopped or whole, break up the whole tomatoes by hand

sausage, about 12 oz. chopped such as kielbasa, sweet and/or hot Italian, chorizo, or andouille

1 1/2 c dry lentils

4 c beef, chicken or vegetable broth

4 c water

2 beef, chicken or vegetable bouillon cube

2-3 carrots, sliced thin

2-3 stalk celery sliced thin

1 medium onion chopped on the smaller side

3-4 clove garlic, chopped, grated or crushed

1-1 1/2 lb greens chopped, such as kale, spinach, chard

1-2 bay leaves

1-2 t ground sage

1 t black pepper

1 t dry thyme

1 t dry basil

1 t dry oregano

1T garlic powder or to taste

1T onion powder or to taste

chopped fresh parsley as garnish

I prefer the crock pot method, it's pretty much  dump it all in the crock pot, set to high and cook at least 9 hours. As a personal preference I sweat the onions, celery, carrots and chopped garlic stove top before I add them to the crock pot. I add the herbs and spices at the end of this process to get a little heat on them to wake their flavors up a little.

If cooking this by stove top, it would probably take about an hour of cooking on medium heat, following the process mentioned above, adding the chopped sausage after the vegetables, once heated through, add all other ingredients and cook. Since I have not used a pressure cooker as of yet I can not speak to the cooking time.