French Lentil Soup - Oui Oui!

Ok, so Soup Sunday has rolled around again, and my cupboard is overrunning with several varieties of lentils. Luckily, I had just the right amount of French Green Lentils, and have never tried French Lentils before. For lentil newbies, there are several varieties of lentils, the most popular and easiest available being brown lentils, french green lentils, and red lentils. Lentil are a variable wonder food. They are packed with fiber, protein, and not to mention easy to prepare and inexpensive! How much better can it get! You can read more about the wonderful health properties of lentil by following this link .

 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable stock for sauteing foods without oil

5 cloves of garlic

1 medium sweet white onion, chopped (for onion chopping I always use a Vegetable chopper, so much easier than hand chopping!)

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 carrots- peeled and cut into half moons

5 small red potatos, scrubbed and diced (again, chopper comes in handy again)

1 teaspoon thyme

2 teaspoons paprika

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

2 cups french lentils (available in the bulk food isles in most whole foods and new seasons)

8 cups of low sodium vegetable stock (I like Imagine Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock)

1 cube of Not-Chicken bullion (you can use chicken bouillon if you don't care about going vegetarian)

1 small can of "no salt added" diced tomatoes (I like Muir Glen organic tomatoes)

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons Herbamare or sea salt (optional)

1/2 cup of fresh basil

1/2 cup of fresh Italian parsley

1. Heat large soup pot or 7 qt. of cast iron casserole pot (my favorite is Martha Stewart cast iron casserole dish)

2. Add 1/4 cup of vegetable stock, heat over medium heat, and add diced onion. Sautee onion for 5 minutes. Add garlic and continue to saute for another 2 minutes.

3. Add diced potatoes, celery, carrots, seasoning (paprika, thyme, italian seasoning) and saute for another 5 minutes, stir constantly.

4. Add vegetable stock, and boulion cube. Stir briskly until dissolved. Heat until simmering.

5. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

6. Add can of tomatos, red wine vinegar, salt, and fresh herbs. Stir well and simmer another 5 minutes.

As with many soups, this one tastes better the next day, once all the favors have "soaked in".

Nutrition Facts Based On 8 Servings Per Recipe. Each bowl provides 34% of your iron and 16 grams of protein with only a little more than 1 gram of fat!

Nutrition Facts

A-Star
French Green Lentil Soup

Serving Size: 1 serving

Amount Per Serving Calories 296
Total Fat 1.4g Saturated Fat 0.2g Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 177mg Carbohydrate 54.2g Dietary Fiber 10g Sugars 9.8g Protein 15.9g

Vitamin A 107%	Vitamin C 49%
Calcium 9%	Iron 34%