Lentil Soup - Meatless Monday

Brrrrrr.....it's cold out there. Not like 12 degrees cold. More like 22 degrees at night and my furnace was not made to withstand that kind of cold, cold.

What's better than hot soup on a cold winter's day? Nothing. Except maybe a fire in the fireplace, a good book in hand, and a hot toddy gently steaming on a side table. But, other than that soup is it right up there. Okay, so it is not even close but it's what I've got to work with here.

For those of you who turn your nose up at the mention of the lowly lentil stay tuned because this soup doesn't taste like your average lentil soup and doesn't look like your average lentil soup. This soup is down right yummy and low fat and yummy (I said that already but it bears repeating) and filling and yummy and easy.

Oh and, low fat! WooHoo! With this recipe your resolve to diet is done.

Oh and, good for the environment because it's meatless. We are so eco-friendly here at the Dogslife abode.

This recipe is a feel good recipe. Gawd.....I feel so selfless even giving it to you. (yeah right! I was a lazy ass all week and this is the only really good thing I made. Does it count as 5 decent meals because it is really, really, really, really, really good? Or that I made it twice it was so good? I didn't think so either.)


Lentil Soup
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup carrot, chopped fine
1/2 cup celery, chopped fine
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped fine
1 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups lentils, green or red, picked and rinsed
1 - 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 quarts vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup wild rice mix or brown rice

Directions

Clean and pick through the lentils to make sure there are no rocks or nasty bits. Trust me, there is nothing worse then biting into a rock.

Chop all of the vegetables into a small dice.


Place the olive oil into a large stock pot and set over medium heat. Once the oil in hot add the chopped veggies and salt.


Sweat until the onions are translucent and the carrots are tender. This takes about 6 to 7 minutes.


Add the lentils, rice, tomatoes, broth, coriander, cumin, and pepper. Stir to combine. Bring soup to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook at a low simmer until the lentils are tender, approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Using a stick blender, puree to your preferred consistency. Serve immediately.

This soup feeds up to 6 average eaters or 8 small eaters. There are only three of us so we had plenty of leftovers which became the most spectacular dip.

Leftover that are fated to become dip.

Going meatless one day a week is going city wide in Belgium. I wish I could plan a trip to Ghent on a Thursday. That would make all that traveling I do a little easier. I wish I could travel to Ghent anytime. It's Belgium! From what I hear it is all about the chocolate there. Anyway, I thought I'd pass this along.

From Vegetarian Times Ghent, Belgium, for becoming the first city in the world to officially go vegetarian one day a week. Launched this past May, every Thursday in the Flemish town is Veggie Day: cafeterias in public buildings and schools serve vegetarian-only meals, and all restaurants offer at least one option that's free of seafood or meat. (One eatery has banned meat entirely that day.) To help the city's 230,000 residents kick the bratwurst, street maps are available to guide them to the best meat-free fare in town.

Veggie Day is the brainchild of the Ghent-based Ethical Vegetarian Alternative (vegetarian.be). EVA Director and Cofounder Tobias Leenaert made it happen after garnering the support of city councilman Tom Balthazar. "It was really the first time that a government—even on the city level—is behind such a campaign," says Leenaert. In announcing Veggie Day, Balthazar noted not only its boost to animal welfare but also its potential to combat obesity and lessen Ghent's environmental footprint. The EVA estimates that if everyone in town observes Veggie Day for a single year, the CO2 savings will be equivalent to taking 18,000 cars off the road.

You all have a nice day. Try to stay warm.

Love
Shivering M