Winter Lentil Vegetable Soup and Colonial Brown Bread

Mmmm.... when the weather is cold and you want fabulous healthy veggies plus cholesterol-reducing, high-protein lentils in a tasty soup, coupled with a sweeter, moist, no-egg, no-oil-or-butter bread, these recipes will deliver.  These recipes are simple and easy, but you'll want to allow enough time to chop up veggies for the soup and let it simmer.  Bonus:  If you double the soup recipe you can freeze half the soup and one of the loaves of bread, and you'll have fabulous heart-healthy dinners for several nights...  NO cooking!!  

I found the Winter Lentil Vegetable Soup on Allrcecipes.com.  (You can click on the name of the soup in the previous sentence and the recipe will appear in another browser).

Here it is, with my tweaks (please heed them!):


Ingredients:


1/2 cup red or green lentils (sold in bags near other dried grains and peas)
1 cup chopped onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
1-3 large(ish) carrots, sliced.
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 cups shredded cabbage - or more, if more fits
1 (14.5) oz can whole stewed tomatoes (careful, make sure no spices have been added to this)
1 (14.5) oz can diced tomatoes (do not drain the tomatoes... add the juice to the pot)
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp brown sugar (or more, to taste)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp curry powder


Directions:

1. Place the lentils into a large stockpot and add water to twice the depth of the lentils.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes.
2. In a separate pan, saute the onion, celery, and carrot in a bit of olive oil until slightly tender.  Add garlic near end.
3. Add the sauteed veggies and everything else on the recipe list to the pot.  Simmer for 90 minutes - 2 hours or until desired tenderness is achieved.  

Why is this so heart healthy?  Aside from having practically no fat and plenty of protein in the lentils, lentils are one of the "magic beans" (as I call them) that are high in cholesterol-lowering soluble fiber.  See my old blog post, "tips and tricks" to learn more.

Please:  If you do make this soup, heed my advice and pair the soup with this Colonial Brown Bread.  The two compliment each other perfectly and together are more than the sum of their individual selves.  


Also, this bread uses no eggs and no butter OR oil.  The secret to its moistness is the buttermilk.  Sounds fatty right?  No!  Buttermilk is a misnomer; historically speaking it's the milk that was left *after* the butter was taken for other use.  Read the nutrition info:  There's hardly any fat in buttermilk.

My only "tweak" to the bread recipe is NOT to overcook it.

Enjoy!