Lentil Soup

Lentils are good for me, Lentils are good for my family this is my mantra… so why don’t I prepare them that often?  It’s a toss up, what excuse will you believe?  Alright, I found a recipe using lentils that is pretty doggone good. It’s flavorful, hearty, colorful and loaded with so many healthy ingredients. You would think with so many ingredients this would be a time consuming,difficult recipe, but it really isn’t.  The key to this recipe is chopping everything before you start, so you just have to dump it in the pot.  It is a good time to get your family involved with helping to gather and chop all the veggies. So call a family meeting, grab the chopping board, veggies and make this great lentil soup.

Lentil Soup

 

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Author: lets be yummy

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 1¼ teaspoons salt, divided
• 2 tablespoons plus 4 cups water, divided
• 1 cup lentils
• 8 large swills chard leaves
• 1 medium Yukon Gold potato, scrubbed
• 10 ounces fresh spinach, tough stems removed
• 4 scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups chopped broccoli
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon parsley
• ¼ teaspoon tarragon
• ½ jalapeno pepper, minced
• Pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Crumbled feta cheese (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet. Add onions and ¼ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low , add 2 tablespoons water and cover. Cook, stirring frequently until the pan cools down, and then occasionally, always covering the pan again, until the onions are greatly reduced and have a deep caramel color, 25-35 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, rinse lentils and pick out any small stones; combine the lentils with the remaining 4 cups water in a soup pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook fro 20 minutes. Trim the ribs out of the chard; chop the greens and slice the ribs (keep in separated piles). Dice potato into ½ inch pieces. Chop spinach; set aside.
3. When the lentils have cooked for 20 minutes, stir in the chard ribs, potato, scallions, broth and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt; return to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
4. Stir in the chard leaves, broccoli, cumin, parsley, and tarragon . When the onions are caramelized, stir a little of the simmer liquid into them; add them to the soup. Return to a simmer, cover and cook 5 minutes more. Stir in the reserved spinach, cilantro, jalapeno and pepper; return to a simmer, cover and cook until the spinach is tender but still bright green, about 5 minutes more. Stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Taste and add more lemon juice and/or pepper, if desired. Garnish each bowl of soup with crumbled feta cheese.

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