Warm lentil and leek soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 3 big leeks (white and light green parts only), cut into 1/2 inch half-moons
• 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, drained
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 bunch Swiss chard or kale, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup brown lentils, dry
• 1 tbs. fresh thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• cayenne pepper to taste
• Feta cheese (optional, but OH SO GOOD!)

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot set over medium heat. Add leeks and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes or until tomatoes break apart.

3. Add six cups of water and bring to a boil. Stir in sweet potatoes, Swiss chard, lentils, thyme, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Lower heat, cover pot and let simmer about 20 - 30 minutes, or until sweet potato and lentils cooked through.



5. ENJOY with a sprinkle of feta and a little more cayenne on top!

Mini-Review
At first I didn't like this soup... a little too sweet for me. But once I added more black pepper, salt, red chili flakes and cayenne pepper I totally loved this soup! Despite not having any meat in the dish, this is a very hearty and filling soup because of all the fibery (is that a word?) veggies. The original recipe called for Parmesan cheese but since I didn't have any I substituted feta and it was delish!!

Things I'd do the next time:

• add a can of whole kernel corn
• use only one sweet potato and one regular potato
• more swiss chard
• add a cup or two of chicken broth in place of one or two cups of water
• add barley
• more lentils
• cook it with a mild, white fish

Lentil and Veggie "stir fry"

This is a recipe from one of my favorite sites, Fat Buster, that looked tasty and more importantly, EASY! I'm not vegetarian, which this dish is, but it was still really good... even my boyfriend Anthony liked it! Next time around think I'll add more 'stuff' to it but it was good as is... having some for lunch and dinner tonight!

(makes about 10 cups; 1 serving = 1 cup)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. asparagus
• 1 box of mushrooms
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 1 tomato
• 1/2 onion
• several gloves of garlic or to taste
• 1 pepper - green or red
• 1 16oz bag of dried lentils
• 1 14oz can of low-sodium chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste

1.) Wash and chop all veggies and mince garlic.

2.) Add about a tablespoon of olive oil to pan already set on medium heat.

3.) Add veggies and saute for a minute or two, letting the flavors come together. Veggies should still be crisp. (My saute pan was too small... veggies were spilling over!)

(Veggies moved to a bigger pot.)

4.) Throw in the bag of washed uncooked lentils, the can of chicken broth, and a can of water. Add salt and pepper if you want to and stir together.

5.) Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Let lentils and veggies cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Enjoy!

Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not vegetarian so I think this would be even better with some ground chicken or pork. But all things aside, this was good and I'll probably make it again. I LOVE split pea soup, so this reminded me of a 'hearty-less-soupy' version of it but I think next time some carrots and celery are in order to really make this yum!