Lentil Soup

As I mentioned in last weeks post, I am going to share one new food venture, and a craft venture. So today is your lucky day in getting to see my first new food venture. I am going to be giving MUCH thanks to Pintrest (again, and again, and again!!) because this is probably where I will get most of my new ideas for recipes, mostly because the pictures are so yummy its a lot more enticing to make them than just reading a recipe from a book.

So in light of my new food sharing ventures, first off is: Lentil Soup! We have been graced with nasty colds at our house this last week, so something warm and nutritious was calling. All I did was type "Sick soup" in the search bar on pintrest and this one came up as the most appealing one on the list. And the part I love most about it is it has tomatoes in them, which are very high in Vitamin C. So if you have been so graced with colds and such at your place, or just want a most delicious soup, try this sucker out, it was simply AMAZING, and I will now add this recipe to our regular menu list, because it was REALLY that good!!

Sorry I am not very good at making pictures of food look as appetizing, but believe me when I say this stuff really was amazing! If you want the full recipe, and much better pictures, you can go HERE where I originally got the recipe.

Now there were a lot of things I didn't have the recipe called for, so maybe the actual thing tastes different that what I did, so if you want to see how I did it, read on. The black writing is things I copied and pasted right from the above website, things I changed or did differently are in purple writing.

Lentil Soup

2 cups black beluga lentils (or green French lentils), picked over and rinsed, I just used green ones1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped I didn't have any onions, but I am sure they would be really yummy in it!1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
3 cups of leafy green (finely chopped) 
The original recipe calls for Saffron Yogurt (or you make it or something, I have never heard of it, and didn't have the ingredients for it, so I forgo-ed anything about the yogurt, but if you want to try it, go to the original website HERE.)
Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan, add the lentils, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain and set aside. I kept the same water that was in with the lentils, to hopefully save any nutrients that would have been in the water, then I added the rest of the ingredients except for the leafy greens. I let set on low for about 15-20 mins to let the flavors mix well, then I added the leafy greens about 5 mins before serving.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat, then add the onion and salt and saute until tender, a couple minutes.(since I didn't have onions, I didn't do this part) Stir in the tomatoes, lentils, and water and continue cooking for a few more minutes, letting the soup come back up to a simmer. Stir in the chopped greens, and wait another minute. Taste and adjust the seasoning if need be. Ladle into bowls, and serve with a dollop of the saffron yogurt.

We ate this with saltine crackers, and then the next day leftovers with THESE oatmeal muffins (which are my ALL TIME favorite muffins, they are so yummy and so versatile with different meals!).

My husband loved this (Which is saying a lot, he is generous when I don't cook well and will still eat it, but I can tell when he REALLY likes something I made, he'll just keep going and going, like I've been starving him :), and my little girl ate a little bit, but she's such a funny eater, especially if it looks different, but I will give her time, I am sure some day she'll like it, because it was just so good.

Okay, that's enough yummy ramblings, now it's your turn to try out this taste of heaven. Thanks again for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful day!