Red Lentil Soup

“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” - Alexander Graham Bell

Red Lentils

There is an advantage to being ‘prepared’ - with your pantry, fridge and freezer stalked up with ingredients. When you’re in a pinch for time, hungry, ready for a meal or a simple dish to keep you and your family afloat than being prepped makes life in the kitchen manageable, cooking fast and efficient. Everyones happy! Always remember, the way to your families heart is through their stomachs!

Believe it or not grocery shopping is a pet peeve of mine. Yup, you read it right! I’m a health foodie but unless I’m in a small health food store - easy in and out - I’m not interested! Grateful for Amazon prime and insta-cart and my boys that are better food shoppers than myself - although, they return with ‘stuff’ I would never think to buy - hmmm, maybe that’s why they volunteer to shop for me lol. Motives!

This lentil soup recipe is a no brainer and a yes brainer - simple to create, very few ingredients, ready in 30 minutes and super nutritious and tasty. Your brain needs little thinking to make this happen and at he same time gets your blood flowing through your body from the protein, iron and cumin spice which is earthy and warming and therefore, makes this winter soup nurturing like a cozy heated blanket on a cold day.

The veggies in this soup are: 1 onion and 2 large carrots - part of the mirepoix (meer-poix) - which are three main veggies: onions, carrots and celery used in soups and stews to add flavor and aroma and of course nutrition. I left out the celery but you can certainly add two celery stalks to this soup. I prefer using my celery for crudite (celery sticks) and juicing.

vegan nut-free low calorie high protein

1 tbsp cooking oil - grape seed, coconut, avocado
1 onion chopped
1 cup red lentils - soak for 2 hours in water
2 large carrots chopped
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste (add more at the end if necessary)
juice of one lemon
parsley or scallions chopped for garnish
optional: 1/2 cup rice (for a thicker consistency - not necessary but makes for a healrty meal in a bowl)

-In large pot heat oil and saute onion for three minutes
-stir in lentils, carrots, cumin, salt, pepper, and stir well for 2 minutes
-add 6 cups of water, if adding rice add 7 cups of water and stir, bring to boil, lower heat to simmer and cover pot and cook for 30-40 minutes
-with an ‘immersion blender’ pulse until the soup is a smoother consistency (blend half way through). You might like the soup less or more pureed. Cooks choice!
-squeeze juice of one lemon in the pot
-ladle soup in bowls and add parsley or scallions to garnish

Genia’s tip: all legumes are wonderful, hearty and healthy. The beauty of ‘red lentils’ (that are really orange in color) is that they cook quickly a.k.a fast soup in a time crunch.

Right before I used my immersion blender in my soup

Immersion Blender - pulse the blender in the soup pot and emulsify as you wish for the perfect consistency - cooks choice!