Episode 2: Veggies = super easy soups!

As promised, easy vegetable lentil soup!! I know that lentils make a great nutritious soup on their own with the standard carrots, onion, and tomatoes. But why not just take it a step further, eh? Again, you can use a mixture of fresh and frozen to make this work for you. Whatever you have on hand and however much time you need to shave off your prep time guide this one.

To start out I chopped up 3 large Carrots, 1 Yellow Onion and sauteed them with 2 minced Garlic cloves in some Extra Light Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Just to get things going you know.
After the onions were softened and a little browned, I poured in one regular sized can of No Salt Added Stewed Tomatoes, about 6 cups of water, 2 Bay Leaves, a couple shakes of Red Pepper Flakes and two Teaspoons of Vegetable Bouillon paste. Then our star ingredient gets stirred in, 1 bag (roughly two cups) of Lentils. You can use green or brown, but the red cooks exceptionally fast due to its smaller size. If you use red, then cook the carrots a little longer first.
After about 30 minutes of your soup being covered and on an active simmer, stir in 2 cups of sliced frozen (or fresh) Zucchini and 2 cups frozen chopped Kale. If you use fresh leafy greens cook accordingly. Fresh Kale should be tossed in with the Lentils. Something delicate like fresh Spinach should be added JUST before serving in order to wilt, but not all out slaughter and slime-ify. That's a technical cooking term. You can look it up.

I think this one turns out lovely, very flavorful! If you want it a little spicier, you can add a couple dashes of Tabasco Chipotle sauce. Mmmm!
Hope you're having fun experimenting (healthfully) in the kitchen!