Red Lentil Vegetable Soup
Thick, hearty and full of flavor, this Red Lentil Vegetable Soup will warm you up on the coldest of cold days.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 cup red lentils
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3-4 small carrots peeled & sliced
- 2 large celery stalks sliced; reserve leaves
- celery leaves coarsely chopped
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- sea salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 4 cups vegetable broth
Instructions
- Peel and slice the carrots and set aside.
- Cut off the leaves from the celery stalks. Then slice the stalks and coarsely chop the leaves. Set aside.
- Finely chop the onions and crush the garlic cloves. Set aside.
- Heat olive oil on medium heat in a 3 qt stock pot. Add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic to the pot and sauté until slightly tender.
- Add the red lentils to the mixture and give the pot a good stir.
- Season the mixture with the smoked paprika, turmeric, cayenne pepper and a dash of sea salt and black pepper. Sauté for a few minutes to absorb the seasonings.
- Now add the vegetable broth to the pot and give it another good stir. Season to taste with additional sea salt and black pepper.
- Turn down the heat and cover the pot. Let the soup simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables and lentils are tender. Stir the pot about every 10 minutes. The soup will get thicker as the lentils swell and can start to stick/burn.
- For a thinner soup, add two more cups of vegetable broth, stir and let the soup simmer for five more minutes.
- Turn off the heat and gently stir in half of the chopped celery leaves.
- Let the soup cool for five minutes before serving. Garnish the bowls with the other half of the chopped celery leaves. Enjoy.
Notes
You can add additional vegetables to make the soup your own.