Dinner Tonight: Lentil Soup

I'd imagine that (most of) you will be doing a lot of cooking later this week.  So....I'd imagine that the thought of any time consuming cooking would not be very appealing right about now.  So, how about a nice, easy, so-good-for-you and delicious recipe to get you through your Tuesday.

There's a story behind this recipe.  It came from a book that I bought for my husband when I found out I was expecting.  It's a fun book for a dad-to-be and it's called this:

Caveman's Pregnancy Companion: A Survival Guide For Expectant Fathers

We had a good laugh reading this together.  The best part: a recipe section. You know - so expectant father's can cook for their completely exhausted pregnant wives!  And often my wonderful hubby did cook for me - most of the time he made this:

Folks, it's delicious!  This recipe is a vegetarian one, but we add chorizo to give it a kick.  If you add chorizo, too, be sure to remove the skin, slice (or chop) and brown it off in a separate pan before you add it to the soup because it's very greasy and will ruin your broth otherwise.  I'd imagine chicken would also be delish in this soup, but we haven't tried that yet.  Or if you're really crazy, chicken AND chorizo.  Mmmmmmm!

I love how they word the instructions (tools, need fire?, gather):

Here's what things look like before you add the broth.  

Unfortunately we'd eaten it all before I could snap a photo of the finished soup!

Make this, you won't regret it!  And Happy Thanksgiving, folks!

Lentil Soup (serves 2-4)

Ingredients:  

1T      olive oil

1        large onion, finely chopped

2        medium carrots, chopped

2        celery sticks, chopped

3        cloves of garlic, minced

1        can of diced tomatoes (14.5oz or 400g)

1        bay leaf

1t       fresh thyme 

1C     lentils (whatever colour you like)

1        link of chorizo, skinned, chopped, and sauteed (optional)

6C     low-sodium chicken broth

1        lemon - juice only

1/2C  fresh parsley, chopped

3        scallions

• Heat olive oil in stock pot over medium heat
• Add onion, carrot, celery, stirring occasionally until veggies begin to soften (4-5 mins)
• Add garlic and cook for another minute
• Add tomato, bayleaf, and thyme and let cook for 2 mins, stirring occasionally
• Add lentils and salt and pepper to taste, cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Add chicken broth (and already sauteed chorizo) and bring to a boil
• Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are tender
• Add lemon juice, parsley and scallions