Quilter's Fuel: Pureed Lentil Soup

On a cold day like today, it's nice to have a good bowl of soup to warm you up. Soups are easily my favorite type of food in the world: they're liquid happiness.

This is a vegetarian soup that has a lot of flavor. I combined several different recipes, since I wanted it pureed, but I also wanted a lot of veggies in it. Enjoy!

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 large celery ribs, chopped

1 can crushed tomatoes

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp turmeric

½ tsp sweet paprika

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf

2 c. red lentils, rinsed and picked over

6 c chicken or veggie broth

In a large pot, sautee onions in 1 tbsp olive oil until tender. Add garlic and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute more. Add carrots and celery and cook for another 2 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes with juice. Add spices and cook for 2 more minutes. Then add broth and stir in lentils. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to med-low. Cook for about an hour, stirring occasionally.

Once lentils are tender, remove from heat and let cool. Remove bay leaf. Once the soup is cool enough, puree soup in batches in a blender. Then return to pot and heat until warm. Serve with plain greek yogurt.

For the Geeks - or - why are lentils so good for you?

Lentils are part of the legume family. They are native to the Mediterranean/middle east region of the world, and grow on bushy, foot-tall plants. For their small size, they pack a nutritional punch. Up to 30% of their calories are from protein, and they have an insane amount of dietary fiber in them (60% DV!!). They have high levels of slow-digestive starch (good news if you're diabetic) and folate (good news if you're pregnant or trying to conceive) and include a wide variety of minerals and vitamins.

These plants are incredibly drought-resistant, which is probably why they were one of the first crops domesticated and so widely grown today: from the Mediterranean and Middle East to Africa, India and China. If you haven't added lentils to your diet, this soup is a great way to start!

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lentil
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4338/2
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/lentils-beyond-soups-and-stews-have-you-ever-had-them-like-this/2014/01/06/2c2d401a-7484-11e3-9389-09ef9944065e_story.html
http://www.diningchicago.com/blog/2011/02/16/eat-this-lentils-a-prehistoric-foodstuff/