Lemon Lentil Vegetable Soup

Lentil soup
We all have those veggies we don’t really like. The ones we know are great for us, but for whatever reason, they just aren’t the ones we would ever reach for when we are staying on our game and desiring a healthy snack. For me, it’s carrots and celery. I wish to bits that a handful of carrots were a desirable snack for me but they just aren’t. Maybe it’s because they’re so freaking hard and I have wires cemented to the back side of my front and bottom teeth, a souvenir of the years of braces. Every time I bite into one of these shard-of-glass like veggies I am fairly sure they are going to crack off that cemented wire and I will find myself back in the orthodentist’s chair with one of those big plastic speculum type deals stretching my mouth unnaturally far from my face, all while surrounded by twelve year olds. Anywhoozits, what I’m saying is that even me, a nutritionist, has veggies I have to sneak in to my foods. There are ways that I can get these down. Now, if there are one or two vegetables that you absolutely despise, don’t stress it. Just eat a variety of everything else and you will be a-ok. If you do want to give a go at the despised veg, my best tip is to hide them in foods you heart to bits. Chop’em up real small and add them to green, grain or mixed bean salads. Mix’em up in your burgers (veg or otherwise). It’s amazing how many broccoli stalks I have fed to friends and family without them knowing it simply by grating them up and tucking them away in some falafel or veggie burger. Of course there is always the smoothie solution. A couple leaves of kale will get mixed right in and you won’t even know they’re there. My favourlicious way to sneak the veggies into the diet is in soup. I love hearty, thick, chunky and/or creamy pureed soups. Getting on in to these chillier days, soup becomes a staple in my fridge with leftovers stored in the freezer. The recipe I am sharing here is a great one to whip up at the end of the week, tossing in all your odds and ends scraps of vegetables, some water, lemon juice, lentils and you are laughing all the way to the veggie police. You’d certainly have had your share! Print
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Lentil Vegetable Soup

Lemon Lentil Vegetable Soup


  • Author: Meghan Telpner
  • Total Time: 40 mins
  • Yield: serves 6

Description

An easy and quick, nourishing and hearty one pot meal.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 3 carrots sliced
  • 4 celery stalks sliced
  • 1 cup broccoli or broccoli stalk, sliced
  • 3/4 cup red lentils
  • 3/4 cup green lentils
  • 3 Tbs fresh lemon juice
  • 6 cups water
  • 2 tsp sea salt
  • 3 cups green kale sliced in to small strips
  • 1/4 cup Italian parsley

Instructions

  1. In a large pot, heat oil and lightly sauté onion until translucent (about 5 mins).
  2. Rinse red and green lentils until water runs clear.
  3. Add chopped carrots, celery, broccoli, lemon juice, water, lentils and salt.
  4. Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer.
  5. Cook covered for 20 minutes.
  6. Add in kale and parsley and remove from heat.
  7. Leave covered for ten minutes.

Notes

Option: leave soup chunky as it is, or puree in a blender for a thick, creamy soup. A nice touch is to blend half of the soup and leave the rest chunky- mixing the textures together, Once cooled, this soup can be frozen in 1/5 litre mason jars to be enjoyed as a single serving at a later time.

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Category: Soup

23 Comments

  1. Hide veggies?! Never. Okay…celery always has to be hidden. I just can’t stand it raw!

    Parsnips bother me too, bleh!

  2. Hahaha. That was my mum’s trick! She used to hide veggies in foods or not tell us what was in whatever we were eating until afterwards. Thanks for the reminder. I think I need to now bring this trick back to the table.

    P.s. I’ve never understood celery outside of soups. Do you notice how at functions and events the carrots tend to go quickly and the celery is always left behind! :)

  3. This is my absolute favourite recipe of yours and probably my all-time favourite soup recipe! (Joey’s too)

    I’m kind of weird about tomatoes. I like them cooked, but raw I’m not a HUGE fan and will ony eat them sometimes. I’m better if they’re cut into small bits.

  4. Yum, can’t wait to make this!

    Soup seems to be the theme of the day – I just found about a soup event in Holland Marsh this weekend: soup-a-licious.ca

  5. “Leftover” soup. One of my faves for using up stray veggies. I never think of adding lentils though. Thanks for the tip.

  6. I made soup last night! wow weird. I hate the taste of cooked celery. I dont mind it raw but in soups it gets this slimy texture and it tastes awful. It is the only veggie I have to fight to get down.

  7. Are your lentils sprouted? Should I be doing this before I cook them? Another way to conceal veggies if you don’t like the flavour is to add in lots of curried spices… lemon and curry flavours can mask even the strongest parsnip.

  8. I love my carrots :) Actually, I have yet to meet a veggie I didn’t like (sure one exists though), but I do have an issue with lemon sometimes! Either way this soup sounds like a great idea!

  9. I soak my lentils overnight (or 6-8 hours) before cooking. The sprouting process has begun but they aren’t fully sprouted

  10. I feel the same way about celery. I don’t like its stringiness. I’m sure that if I had wires in my mouth I’d feel the same as you do about carrots. I WISH I’d been presented the option of wires/permanent retainer rather than a retainer that I was told to wear nightly “until my wedding night” (the orthodontist said that) because I didn’t wear it and now my teeth have shifted. Again. I can’t go back to the same orthodontist because he recently passed away. One day when I can afford it…

    More on topic, soups are great. On Wednesday I bought a soup cookbook on impulse. It’s organized by season.

  11. Yep, I’m with you on the celery. Soup is a great way to hide ’em. I also find I can tolerate them in juices–as long as there’s an apple and some carrots or beets in there, too!

  12. 5 Soup Recipes to Keep You Warm and Trim - Well Street | Corporate Employee Wellness Toronto and GTA, Ontario, Canada says:

    […] 4. Lemon Lentil Vegetable Soup […]

  13. I made this soup and it tasted rather bland to me. I added one clove of garlic, 1.5 tsp yellow curry, 1 tsp red paprika powder, 1 tsp turmeric and 1.5 cup more water as the quantities of lentils made it rather thick. It was delicious.

  14. Love this soup but the last time I froze it in mason jars (even just 3/4 full and cooled) they all cracked :( I don’t want to freeze in ziplocks but want to preserve for postpartum daze- what do you recommend for freezing this particular soup?

  15. Lovely texture and really nutritious … I agree with the previous commentor that it needs more spice tho. Tried adding siracchi ..a less than perfect quick fix. Would love to know what you suggest. Thank you

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