Lentil-Veggie Soup
Saturday, March 14, 2009From Slow Cooker Favorites Made Healthy (Better Homes & Gardens Cooking)
This was a surprisingly delicious soup. It was actually much thinker that a soup, but thinner that a stew. As Rachel Ray would say, a "stoup." This soup has 0 grams of fat and 12 grams of fiber, so it's very healthy! It takes a long time to cook so you have to kind of plan when you are going to make it. I made it around 8 pm the previous night and we had it for lunch the next day. It reheats wonderfully.
I have a huge slow cooker, so I doubled the recipe. I makes A LOT so be prepared! Also, while it doesn't call for it, I added salt and pepper. It was just to bland without it.
Note: I planned on this being my first soup after my master cleanse. It may be a bit to hearty for most, but we had it with no troubles.
- 1 cup brown lentils, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup chopped carrots (2 medium)
- 1 cup celery (2 stalks)
- 1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans vegetable broth or chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 (14 1/2 oz) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
- 1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley
- In a 3 1/2 to 4-quart slow cooker place lentils, carrots, celery, onion, and bay leaf. Sprinkle with basil, oregano, thyme and garlic. Combine broth, water and undreained tomatoes. Pour over all.
- Cover and cook on low-hear for 12 hours or on high-heat for 5 to 6 hours. Remove and discard bay leaf. Stir in parsley.
Creamy Asparagus Soup
From The Vegan Chef - Vegan Recipes - Beverly Lynn Bennett
This was my first vegan recipe ever! It was simply delicious! Not hard to make at all and I followed the directions very closely. The next time I may cut the water just a tad, but besides that the soup came out perfectly. This makes a lot of soup, so plan on having it for while. It was so delicious, though, I even had seconds!
Note: This was our second soup the day after the master cleanse.
- 1 1/2 lbs. asparagus, tough ends trimmed
- 3 cups Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 cups onion, diced
- 1 T. garlic, minced
- 1 T. lemon juice
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 1/2 T. cornstarch or arrowroot
- 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
- 3 T. freshly chopped basil
- 1/2 t. sea salt
- 1/8 t. white pepper
- 1 cup soy milk, rice milk, or other non-dairy milk of choice
- 3 T. nutritional yeast flakes
- Garnish: thin slices of lemon
- Cut the tips off the asparagus, place them in a steamer basket, steam them for 2-3 minutes or until tender, and set aside.
- Thinly slice the stems diagonally, place them in a steamer basket, steam them for 4-5 minutes
- or until tender, and set aside.
- Measure the water left over from steaming the asparagus, add additional water to measure 7 cups, and place it in a large pot.
- Add the potatoes, onion, garlic, and lemon juice, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
- In a blender or food processor, place the cold water and cornstarch, and blend well to combine.
- Strain the cooked vegetables from the broth, reserving the cooking liquid, transfer the cooked vegetables to the food processor, and return the cooking liquid to the pot.
- Add the fresh herbs to the cooking liquid and stir well to combine.
- Add half of the reserved steamed asparagus stems to the food processor and puree the mixture until smooth.
- To the pot containing the herbed cooking liquid, add the pureed mixture, reserved steamed tips and stems, and the remaining ingredients, and stir well to combine.
- Remove the pot from the heat and set the soup aside for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
- Taste and adjust seasonings, as needed.
- Serve hot or cold and garnish individual servings with a thin slice of lemon.
