I love making a big pot of soup at the beginning of the week and having it for dinner a few nights in a row. This saves me the hassle of having to prepare myself dinner mid-week and deters me from eating pre-packaged or processed foods if I’m too tired to cook something from scratch when I get home from a long day. Lentil soup is very nutritious and low in fat so it makes a great choice for weeknight meal.
Ingredients:
- 16 oz package of lentils (your color of choice)
- 8 oz package of cubed ham (optional)
- 1 vegetable or chicken bouillon cube
- 1 envelop of Sazon Goya seasoning (found in the ethnic aisle of the grocery store. I use the version that has saffron for both coloring and flavor.)
- 6-7 cloves of garlic (trust me, once it boils for a while, it mellows out and is not strong at all)
- 1 small onion or 1/2 a large onion
- 1 package of baby carrots diced or 2 large carrots
- 2-3 stalks of celery
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 5 small sweet peppers or 1 regular sized sweet pepper (yellow, orange or red)
Directions:
- Rinse lentils and pick out any pebbles, etc. Fill pot with water about 2 inches above lentils.
- add bouillon cube, seasoning packet, bay leaves and all diced vegetables
- Let come to rolling boil
- Add ham cubes if desired.
- lower to simmer and cover. Boil for 40 minutes stirring frequently and adding water if it thickens more than you would like.
- Taste and adjust seasoning if desired.
For more info on the health benefits of lentils, check out these links!
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/benefits-eating-lentils-4547.html
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=52
http://www.oprah.com/health/Dr-Oz-The-Best-Anti-Aging-Superfoods-Red-Lentils-Amaranth
Lentils are one of my faves! Great idea about having the soup for many meals. I do that too. 🙂
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Thanks for the feedback! Hope you enjoy 🙂
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