Ina's Lentil Vegetable Soup: Hearty and Healthy for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

Nothing says love like a bowl of soup--especially when it is a tasty bowl of hearty and healthy lentil soup. This Lentil Vegetable Soup from Ina Garten uses small French green lentils and is packed with carrots, celery, leeks, and onions. 

I was impressed at the 5-star average rating it got on the Food Network website with 222 reviews.  

Lentil Vegetable Soup
By Ina Garten, via FoodNetwork.com
(Makes 8-10 Servings)

1 pound French green lentils
4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large onions)
4 cups chopped leeks, white part only (2 leeks)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
1/4 cup good olive oil, plus additional for drizzling on top (I used 2 Tbsp)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon ground cumin 
3 cups medium-diced celery (8 stalks)
3 cups medium-diced carrots (4 to 6 carrots)
3 quarts chicken stock
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons red wine or red wine vinegar
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a large bowl, cover the lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drain.

In a large stockpot on medium heat, saute the onions, leeks, and garlic with the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and cumin for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are translucent and very tender. Add the celery and carrots and saute for 10 more minutes. Add the chicken stock, tomato paste, and lentils. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, until the lentils are cooked through. 

Check the seasonings. Add the red wine and serve hot, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with grated Parmesan.

Notes/Results: This is a great lentil soup--the thyme, garlic and cumin give it good flavor and the French lentils hold their shape better than regular lentils, which gives the soup a great toothsome texture. I used red wine vinegar to finish it rather than red wine because I like how vinegar brightens up earthy lentils. If you want to make it vegan, leave off the Parmesan, or better yet, use a vegan cheese--because having a little melty goodness adds a nice touch to the soup. I was going to cut down the recipe when I read how much it made but I am glad I made the full batch. We have a rainy start to the week and I will be happy curling up with bowls of this soup. I'd happily make it again. 

Linking up to I Heart Coking Clubs where this week's theme is Struck By Cupid--Ina Garten dishes that show love. 

 

We have some tasty dishes waiting in the Souper Sundays kitchen this week, let's have a look!

Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog made this pretty Chinese Noodle Salad and said, "This simple hearty side dish that is both flavorful and healthy. Sauteed cabbage and noodles have always been one of my favorites.  Chinese Noodle Salad is my variation of my noodle salad, but I've added sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds to give it that Asian flavor that so many people just love."

Please join me in welcoming Quilt Lady from Chasing My Life who joins us at Souper Sundays this week with two recipes. The first is a New Classic Caesar Salad. She says, "When I use chicken I use chicken tenders with salt and pepper browned in a little butter and then shredded into the salad."

 
The second recipe is her Yummy Homemade Celery Seed Dressing and Quilt Lady recommends chilling this dressing before serving but says that it is also good heated.

Thanks for joining me this week at Souper Sundays!

About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.)

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on the post you link up to be included.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).

 

An InLinkz Link-up

 Have a happy, healthy week!