Hearty Lentil Soup

Is it fall yet?! I love waking up in the morning when the air is cool and crisp. And cool weather means sweaters, boots and soup. This soup has become a staple in my meal prep recently. I used to be very scared of all carbs and I had trouble eating any carb that wasn't a green vegetable. But I now I know that eating the right carbs are necessary and nothing to be scared of. This soup has lots of lentils which are high in fiber and protein.

There is no meat in this soup but if you wanted, you could always add some. If you are looking to add more protein, you could always add in some beans, chickpea noodles (see Banza review), or top it with a little low fat or fat free cheese like ricotta or feta. I feel that it is plenty filling the way that it is but if you're trying to adjust the macros, feel free to adjust the recipe for yourself.

Ingredients

3 T extra virgin olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

3-4 celery stalks, chopped

5-6 carrots, peeled + chopped

1 15oz can diced tomatoes

1 T balsamic vinegar

1 1/4 cup lentils

1 T minced garlic

1 tsp basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp thyme

1 liter vegetable stock

salt + pepper

Directions

heat the oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 min. add in the celery and cook for another 5 min then add in the carrots. After you add the carrots, add in the spices and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure nothing is burning at the bottom. Add in the can of tomatoes and the balsamic vinegar and stir. let that cook covered for another 10 minutes. After that you can add in the stock and the lentils. Let it come to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. The lentils will grow in size and soak up a lot of moisture. When the cooking is done, remove it from heat and let it cool a bit. Next, you need to blend it. You can use a regular blender, food processor or immersion blender. I have an immersion blender and it is so handy for soups because you can blend everything right in the pot. If you are doing this in a regular blender, you may need to do batches and make sure that the soup is not much warmer than room temp. The heat will cause you a lot of problems if you try and blend it hot. (trust me, I know.)

makes 4 servings

Macros 1 serving: 248 cal, 31.1 g carbs (8.8 g fiber/12 g sugar), 10.9 g fat, 7.3 g protein