Winter Lentil Soup

It's soup season. I love soup season so much. Soup is versatile, filling, and (usually) healthy. More importantly, soup is warm in my tummy and my soul. Many folks, myself included, need warmth in both of those places right now. Sometimes life is stressful and hard, but good food can nourish in multiple ways.

Enter this lentil soup. This soup has such an amazing taste and blend of textures. It's rich and velvety and round. Plus, it's full of good-for-you lentils and veggies. After a big bowl of this soup (plus some crusty bread), I'm comforted.

Winter Lentil Soup
A variation on the soup found here.

Ingredients
1 T. oil
1 small onion, chopped
1-2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium/large carrot, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced/pressed
4 c. vegetable broth
2 c. water
1 medium sweet potato, cubed
1 c. mixed lentils (see Helpful Hints)
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. rosemary
1 bay leaf
black pepper to taste
2 T. nutritional yeast

Directions
1. In the instant pot using the saute setting, or in a pan on the stove, saute the onion, celery, and carrot until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and saute an additional 1-2 minutes. (See the Helpful Hints for crockpot instructions.)
2. Add all other ingredients except nutritional yeast. On the stove, cover and simmer until lentils are soft, approximately 30 minutes. Using an Instant Pot, leave it on saute until it comes to a boil, then turn off and reset to "Slow Cook" setting, on high for 8 hours.
3. Just before serving, add nutritional yeast and stir well.

Helpful Hints

• I make the following lentil blend: 1/2 c. green lentils, then split the other 1/2 cup between black, French, and red lentils. The red lentils will dissolve into the soup, so if you add more of them, the soup will be thicker. Don't have French or black lentils? Any blend will be fine, as long as it is not only red lentils. 
• This is a soy- and gluten-free meal if you are careful about your veggie broth. Luckily, a lot of broths are free of soy and gluten (or just one), so this can be a very allergen-friendly meal. 
• To make this in a crockpot, either saute onions, celery, and carrots (plus garlic for a bit) on the stove, then add all ingredients to crockpot, or simply skip the sauteing step. It will be more flavorful with sauteed veggies, but delicious regardless. Cook all ingredients except nutritional yeast using the on the low setting of your crockpot for 8-10 hours. Add the nutritional yeast at the end.

The post "Winter Lentil Soup" first appeared on Maggie's LesVegan Kitchen.