It seems that I have read several articles/books lately that have praised the nutritional value of lentils, so I bought a small bag of green ones. After looking online, I decided I would make vegetable soup and add lentils to it. To be honest, I didn’t think I would like lentils one bit but wanted to try them just in case. They are VERY cheap and VERY healthy. I couldn’t find a recipe online that fit my fancy so this is who I made it:
2 T Olive Oil (I don’t like olive oil so I always use grapeseed oil in its place…yes, I am weird)
1 small onion chopped
7-8 carrots, peeled and sliced
1.5 green pepper chopped
6-8 cups of water
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 large can of tomato sauce
1 can garbanzo beans
1 bag green lentils
2 large handfuls of baby spinach
2 bay leaves
1 t Italian seasoning (mine has marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano, and basil in it)
1 T dried parsley flakes
Pepper and Salt to Taste (I don’t ever add salt but you could. I love pepper so I added a lot of pepper.)
Use a large stock pot. Saute onion, carrots, and green pepper until soft. Add the the other ingredients except the spinach and stir. Put the lid on and bring to a medium boil. Let simmer for 30-40 mins until your lentils float to the top. Turn the heat off, put the spinach on top, put the lid back on for five mins or until the spinach has wilted. Then stir in the spinach.
This was so good! It makes a lot. I would say it makes 12 individual servings. It freezes very well, so I like to freeze it individually for nice easy meals to pull out of the freezer at anytime. I had never bought Italian seasoning before, but it was also very good.
You could use any vegetables that you like in place of what I used.
