I laughed because I had a bag of untouched dried lentils sitting in my pantry back at my apartment. I put my mom’s bag back and made a mental note to face my lentils at home and actually use them for something soon.
My lunch today was leftover lentil soup from Friday night’s dinner.
Lentil Soup
Leftover soup is always so tasty. I think the extra time allows the ingredients to compliment each other and the flavor to become even stronger.
To make the soup on Friday, I first I rounded up all the necessary ingredients.
The Goods
I then added a tablespoon of olive oil to a pot and tossed in diced carrots, celery, onion and two bay leaves and let the vegetables soften and sizzle a bit.
Veggies
After the amazing aroma began to fill the room, I added two diced garlic cloves and a tablespoon of tomato paste and let it cook for a minute or two.
Tomato Veggies
I then added three cups of water and a half a cup of dried lentils and let this mixture simmer on medium heat for approximately 30 minutes, until the lentils became relatively soft.
I then added approximately five cups of freshly chopped spinach, a decent squirt of dijon mustard, a large splash of red wine vinegar, a large pinch of parsley and approximately half a teaspoon of pepper to the soup and let it simmer on low for an additional 10 minutes.
Addin' Spinach to the Mix
The smell of the soup was amazing and we had a hard time waiting patiently to dig in.
Lentil Soup
The soup was very filling and full of fiber. It tasted great as a leftover Monday lunch, too! Success.
Bowl o' Soup
I condensed the recipe I found from Cooking Light and added additional spinach, but here is the original recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/3 cups finely diced onion
- 1/3 cup finely diced celery
- 1/3 cup finely diced carrot
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 6 cups water
- 1 cup dried French dark green or other lentils
- 6 cups chopped spinach
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shaved fresh Parmesan cheese
Preparation
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion, celery, carrot, and bay leaves; saute for 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste, salt, and minced garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add 6 cups water and lentils; bring mixture to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer mixture for 25 minutes. Stir in the chopped spinach, parsley, vinegar, mustard, and pepper; cook 15 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Ladle soup into bowls; top with cheese.
Nutritional Information
- Calories: 234 (30% from fat)
- Fat: 7.8g (sat 2.9g,mono 3.7g,poly 0.7g)
- Protein: 16.6g
- Carbohydrate: 26.6g
- Fiber: 7.3g
- Cholesterol: 10mg
- Iron: 5.1mg
- Sodium: 729mg
- Calcium: 260mg
Question: What is something that always seems to go untouched in your pantry?
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
You’ve inspired me to use my lentils!
rice! I have lots of rice that I neeeever use! Im gonna make some stir fry this week that has some rice in it!
Julie, I love your recipe! I seem to always use my lentils in stew rather than anything else! What do you use to calculate the calories for your recipes?
Hey Julie! This soup looks awesome- I always forget I have lentils packed away in my pantry and need to find a way to use them before the spring days begin. What would you think a serving size for this is? Thanks! (PS love your blog- i read it every morning when I get to work 🙂 )