Happy Meatless Monday everyone!
I have a perfect vegan, vegetarian and gluten free soup recipe for you today. Virtually 0 fat, low in sodium, cholesterol and full of complex carbs. Make for dinner tonight and have lunch ready for tomorrow.
Meatless Monday is an international campaign that began in 2003 with a goal to encourage people to not eat meat on Mondays. Focusing on your own health in turn improves the health of the planet. I’m in! Are you?
I already had a personal Meatless Friday after weeks of irresponsible indulgement of piroshky and other unaudiable goodies during my mom’s visit. Embarrassing? Yes. Guilty? No.:)
I could call this soup Italian as it is my neighbour’s, Liliana, recipe. She is Italian and possibly one of the best cooks in the world.
I have tried this soup before and loved it right away. She was kind enough to share the recipe with me last week while we were watching the hockey game and trying my dessert experiments.
One of them was Easy & Skinny Pumpkin & Black Bean Cake. By the way, the original recipe is hers as well. It was interesting to watch her face trying this cake as it tasted different from the original… LOL.
The other one was Martha’s Chocolate Pear Tart. Of course I have changed half of the ingredients. I will post it once I’m done experimenting. I decided to stop baking for a bit, you know why.:)
Going back to soup…It’ super easy to make. What else? I always rinse my grains, meat, veggies, fruits including melons and bananas. So, rinse your lentils.
I used organic green lentils and Better than Bouillon low sodium organic chicken base to make the stock. Lentils are so good for you and are a great source of vegetarian protein. With about 30% of their calories from protein, lentils have the third-highest level of protein of any legume or nut, after soybeans and hemp.
Lentils are also full of fiber, folate, vitamin B1 and a good source of iron. They do not require much soaking like many other beans, which makes them convenient for quick night vegetarian meals.
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Ingredients
- 2 cups lentils, dry
- 3 large carrots, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 2 handfuls of spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 cup diced tomatoes (with liquid)
- 6 cups low sodium chicken (vegetable) broth
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp seasoning salt
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 cups water
- Cooking spray
Directions
- Soak lentils in cold water for 15 minutes.
- Preheat medium-large pot on medium heat. Spray with cooking spray. Add garlic and onions, sautee until golden brown. Add carrots and celery, sautee for 5 minutes. Add lentils and saute for another 3-5 minutes.
- Add diced tomatoes, chicken stock, water, bay leaves and seasoning salt. Cover and cook on low for 20 minutes. Add spinach, remove from heat and cover. Serve hot with whole wheat toast.
Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per 1 Serving = 2 cups:
Calories: 138.2
Total Fat: 0.4 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 375.0 mg
Total Carbs: 23.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 8.4 g
Protein: 9.8 g
Weight Watchers Points+: 3
Weight Watchers Points: 2