Hearty Vegetable and Brown Lentil Soup

This is a weekday essential in our household...

After a period of less health behaviour (the holidays being a great example, not to mention Dutch Carnaval) I jokingly tell my husband that we're going back to our 'Beans and Brassicas' way of living. Following the guidelines of the great Dr. Michael Greger, a daily portion of legumes and cruciferous vegetables (e.g. kale, cabbage, broccoli) is something we definitely strive for. Both ingredients are packed with essential nutrients and offer you a good serving of fiber, keeping you satisfied, your blood sugar regulated and your BMs regular.

Besides all the health considerations, having a pot of soup ready throughout the week is just such a nice-to-have. Since I come from a country that fuels itself on cheese sandwiches for both breakfast and lunch, this is actually quite the upgrade in my lunch regimen. A hot lunch is simply so much more comforting, especially during the colder months. Weekdays do tend to be hectic and busy and making a hot lunch from scratch isn't always the most efficient way to go if you're short on time. That's why soups like these are so great. It offers that comforting little sit-down with something warm, while not taking a big chunk of your lunchtime block. And on top of that, it fuels your body with all the good stuff, making sure you can face the rest of your day without having to become from the well-known carb-crash.

My Basic Vegetable Soup Recipe

This basic recipe features some trusty aromatics, some of them are likely due for using up anyways (celery will just never be sold by the stalk...). Onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and canned tomatoes provide that familiar vegetable soup flavour. The addition of 'Beans and Brassicas' gives the soup more bite and rounds it up as a proper meal, without feeling too heavy.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 onion, diced

• 6 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 carrots, diced

• 3 celery stalks, diced

• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes

• 2L (68 oz) vegetable broth

• 1 1/2 cup dry brown lentils, rinsed
  NOTE: Using canned lentils is totally fine, just add them in at the end to prevent them from dissolving into mush.

• 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs

• 1 head of kale, washed

• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Remove the stems from the kale and chop these finely. Most people throw these out because they'e very tough. However, cooked down with the rest of the vegetables makes them easy to digest while you're saving a little extra nutrients from being wasted.

2. Chop the kale leaves and set aside.

3. In a large pot, sweat down your onion, garlic, carrot, celery and kale stems for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are starting to brown.

4. Add the lentils, herbs and the vegetable broth and bring everything to a boil.

5. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.

6. Turn off the heat and add in the kale. The heat will reduce the volume significantly.

7. Serve hot or cool down to room temperature before storing the soup in the fridge, where it will store for 5 to 7 days.
   NOTE: I usually find soups keep a little longer in storage containers than in the pot itself.

Each serving of this vegetable and brown lentil soup is packed with nutrition. A small serving provides around 8 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber. Feel free to experiment with a variety of beans and cruciferous veggies. Shredded cabbage, for example is a great swap if you add it in during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Beans do vary in cooking time, you can check out my Cheat Sheet so see how this would influence the cooking time.

I hope this recipe will add some easy nutrition to your day-to-day. I am happy you are here :)