Ah the “holidays” are just around the corner (yes, let’s all take a breath and prepare ourselves.)
Will this year be the typical 6-week food frenzy beginning on Thanksgiving Day and lasting until January 1st, or will it be the year where you adjust your diet and lifestyle emerging a healthier you in the New Year?
Although this can be the time of the year where all good intentions for healthful eating fall apart, it’s the perfect time of year to adopt a few strategies allowing you to not only survive the season healthfully but to initiate some small or large changes which can continue into the New Year.
Try serving up lentils with all their nutritional benefits.
Here’s a great recipe to try. It’s right out of my test kitchen this season!
Creamy Lentil Soup (Without the Cream)
Prep Time: 1 hour – includes cooking
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
I medium onion finely diced
2 large carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed well – (either brown or French lentils work)
1-quart low sodium vegetable broth – Kitchen Basics is a good brand and lower in sodium
½ c chopped flat parsley
Fresh ground black pepper
Directions:
Sauté the onion, carrots, parsley, celery and garlic in a heavy non-stick 3-quart pan until softened.
Add the lentils and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer with the cover slightly opened.
Simmer until lentils are tender and almost falling apart – about 45 minutes
Note: Do not let the lentils get dried out while cooking. Add additional water as they are cooking if needed. Most of the water should be absorbed only at the very end of cooking and some liquid should remain.
When the lentil mixture is done cooking, remove half the soup and blend until smooth with an immersion, or hand blender.
Fold the creamed mixture back into the other half of the soup. Add fresh ground pepper at the end.
Pour into serving bowls and enjoy!
