Makes about 4-5 cups.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup lentils, picked over for stones/debris, rinsed and drained
1 small onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1/2 bulb fennel, diced
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 T Better Than Bouillon with 4 cups water (or 4 cups of your preferred vegetable broth)
1 tsp minced garlic from a jar (or 1-2 cloves garlic, minced)
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: your favorite plain plant milk if you want a creamy soup
Notes:
For the lentils, I use brown or red. Brown maintain their shape through cooking, while red will break down once cooked. Any lentil you like is fine, just cook the soup until the lentils are done (heartier lentils take longer to cook, red take less time).
I like to saute my veggies in a splash of water in my soup pot, and I do these in "groups." For example, I'll saute the onions, carrots and celery till they soften, then add the zucchini and fennel and saute another minute or two. Then the canned tomatoes and cook those for another minute. I think this builds some flavor and tastes better, but if you don't have time to do this, you can totally just put all the ingredients in the pot at once.
Directions:
Saute your veggies in a splash of water in a soup pot. I start with onion, carrot and celery and saute till they soften. Then I add the zucchini and fennel, and saute another minute or two, adding water as needed to prevent sticking. Then the garlic and tomatoes, and saute another minute. Then the broth and bay leaf.
Or, just place all ingredients in the soup pot.
Cover and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and let cook until the lentils are fully cooked. For brown lentils, I cook the soup about 30 minutes. For red, about 20 minutes.
Remove bay leaf and discard.
Serve. I top mine with minced fresh herbs like cilantro.
If the soup is thicker than you'd like, just add water (or plant milk) to desired consistency.
For a creamy version, add your favorite plain plant milk. I add a splash of good quality almond milk* to a single bowl, or 1/2 to 1 cup to the entire pot.
*My favorite almond milks so far are Three Trees and Elmhurst. They are only almonds and water, with a higher fat content, so they make for creamy soups and dressings.
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