Lentil Soup

We eat lentils every day. It started as a experiment to fend off some chronic, albeit borderline, anemia; would the high iron and protein of lentils stop the steady red-blood-cell-count decline I’d experienced over the years since going vegan? (Before you get your panties in a twist, I’m not suggesting WFPB diets are deficient; I was also anemic in high school, so it’s just as likely it’s lady-cycle issue than it was a diet-change one.)

To test the theory, I decided to eat lentils every day for 6 months and see what happened at my next blood test. ::drum roll:: For the first time in my entire life history of blood tests, I wasn’t anemic; I wasn’t even borderline anemic; I was in the healthy range!

So now we eat lentils every day. “We” because if I’m cooking, Jason’s probably having it too. But, he skips days from time to time to make more room for other legumes and/or starches he likes. Typically we make 1 dry cup of lentils every day, and at serving time we split the calories of our meals somewhere between 65/35 and 55/45 to account for the fact that Jason is much larger than I am.

(PS: I hate that restaurants only serve meals in one size. Humans come in lots of sizes! Jason and I should not be eating the same amount of food, and—largely because I have no self control and the served portions are typically boy size—I always end up eating too much. That’s why Asia is great, portions are smaller, and I can just eat a whole dish while Jason orders two—giving him a turn at the eat-just-a-little-too-much wheel.)

Anyway about half the time we make lentils just lentils—like lentils and water only—and the other half is some variation of this soup recipe. Please enjoy.

Lentil Soup

This recipe is very flexible and it changes every time we make it. What makes it special is the addition of minerals. Since we don't use salt, soups can sometimes taste tired. But mineralizing the water, we find, satisfies the palate without making it salty. Plus we enjoy the added bonus of beefing up our calcium, magnesium, and potassium without pills.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Resting Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Servings: 2

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup brown lentils (dry) any color of lentil will work, but red will make it mushy
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped or any summer squash
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• ½ small red onion, chopped or use onion powder
• 1 tbsp dried garlic powder, chunks, doesn't matter
• 2-3 tbsps spices you like we enjoy turmeric, paprika, ginger, galangal, cumin, mushroom and curry powder, and occasionally oregano – altho not all at once; use your judgement
• 1 RDA serving magnesium malate powder when split between us, it's the right amount for supplement and flavor
• 1 RDA serviing calcium citrate powder usually around a tsp, but check your packaging
• 1 tsp potassium citrate powder more/less to taste & your potassium needs

Method

 

1. Place the lentils and 3 cups of water in the pot and bring to boil.
2. Meanwhile, chop all the veggies and add them to the pot. Add more water to cover/make it as soupy as you like.
3. Add spices
4. When the lentils are cooked to your desired doneness, add the minerals. If you want the lentils to stay firmer, add the minerals at the beginning of cooking.
5. Let simmer for an additional half hour.
6. Soup is always better after it sits. If you can, make it early and let it sit, covered, on the stove for at least 45 min, but a couple hours is best. Plus is cools off a bit and you can enjoy the flavors more.

Notes

Sometimes we make the soup with different veggies because I’m  guided by the contents of my fridge, not a recipe. Soup how you like, try it with minerals. 🙂