In January, I had the pleasure of visiting a friend and her family who had recently moved to the San Bernardino National Forest. She and I were headed to a regional training the day after. The night I arrived, it was windy and cold. Thankfully no snow because I don't own any snow chains and the climb to the top of the mountain was steep and long! The weather held off until the day after our meeting... whew!
The night I arrived, she was making a lentil soup. It tasted great! It was a hearty soup for a cold night. YUM!
Recently, I thought about making some lentil soup. First, I must admit, I'm not a huge fan of lentils and many beans because of their texture, and because of this, I made sure to thoroughly rinse the lentils before and after cooking and before incorporating them into the final dish.
Without further adieu, here is the recipe! The recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free but not grain free, due to the lentils (legumes / grains) and the optional rice.
Ingredients:
1 pound of lentils, rinsed thoroughly
2 cups of veggie broth (DIY here) + 1 cup water (add if you want more broth)
5 yellow organic potatoes, diced
2 tbs EVOO (or use some broth)
1 large shallot, diced
2 tbs minced garlic (or 3 cloves finally diced)
2-3 small bok choy (stems sliced, greens chopped; bottoms removed)
1 large red or orange bell pepper, diced (seeds and tops removed)
2 tsp turmeric (may stain cookware and counter tops); like this
2 tsp adobo; like this
2 tsp sea salt
Optional: Leftover quinoa or rice. I used 1 cup of cooked organic quinoa and whole grain rice.
Preparation:
1. After thoroughly rinsing lentils, cook according to package in a medium pot.
2. While lentils are cooking, prepare potatoes. Dice them into roughly the same size. Though I used 5 potatoes, I will use more next time. Try doubling the amount if you like potatoes in your soup.
3. In a deep pot (I'd like to update my cookware to this), add the 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (or broth) and cook on medium heat.
4. Toss the diced potatoes with the oil (or broth) and cook on medium for 5-8 minutes. When they're almost done, add the turmeric.
5. While potatoes are cooking, dice the shallot and prepare the bok choy.
6. After potatoes are slightly softened (stick a fork in one) add the diced shallots and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the adobo seasoning.
7. Add the minced garlic and give it a good stir. Cook for 2 minutes.
8. Add the sliced stems of the bok choy (the white parts) and cook for 3 minutes.
9. While potatoes, shallots, garlic, and bok choy stems are cooking, dice the bell peppers (remove tops and seeds).
10. Toss the bell peppers in and cook for a couple minutes.
11. Add the vegetable broth. Wait until the end to add the 1 cup of water - you can decide if you'd like it more brothy or thick.
12. Lentils should be done by now. Drain and rinse again - thoroughly. Add them to the soup base. Season the soup with the salt.
13. Cook on medium for 10 minutes before adding the optional cooked rice/ quinoa.
14. When soup is nearly done, you'll add the green tops of the bok choy and if it's too thick, you'll add up to the 1 cup of water. Stir. Lower the heat. Cover.
15. Serve with bread of your choice or alone. Top with a pinch of sea salt.
16. Enjoy!
Yields: Approximately 5 cups of soup.
Hi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI have been making variations on lentil soup recipes for years and I eat this soup every week, however to my delight you recipe with bok choy, red pepper and potatoes is a new spin on lentil soup for me! I can't wait to make this. Thank you for sharing this healthy and delicious Vegetarian Lentil Soup with us at the Healthy, Happy, Green and Natural Party Blog Hop! I’m pinning and sharing!