The other day I saw this recipe and thought it looked good and healthy. Plus, I was thinking about what to make for dinner that night as well- it appeared my thoughts were answered. Sweet!

I got home with the ingredients and started cooking. I honestly thought it was going to take awhile but it didn’t. I would say, tops 30 minutes- and that includes prep. There’s not a lot of ingredients and it comes together quickly. I turned down the pan to low to keep it warm and not over cook it while I wait for my taste tester/husband to get home. Sometimes he just won’t eat the stuff I cook – not often but when I do go out on the adventurous side of cooking I really have to hide (mix it into the rest of the dish) Unfortunately, he finds it and over dramatizes eating it. He will say, “I know what you are doing- You’re trying to kill me” and all it did was hide some vegetables in the dish. But the whole meal I heard that. He ate it and I chucked it up as a success!

So, I plated the meal and heard no comments except that it was really good! I would definitely make this again.

I was first introduced to the lentil in college, and it was made into a soup. I learned using the whole celery (leaves and all) they said it adds more depth of flavor. I took that bit of information and ran with it as well as this soup recipe. I have been making this for years and it has always been a winner. It wasn’t until recently when I really started to realize how much nutritional benefit this little bean really has. I found you really don’t need to soak this bean like other dry beans- bonus! because you really don’t have to plan ahead- like washing the bean, soaking for hours. Lentils are generally good to go thirty minutes- but, I like to cook my soup a good portion of an afternoon- just letting it simmer on the stove and let all the flavor mingle well with each other. Its also good source of potassium, iron and protein. It’s very good hot or cold. Hmmm, perhaps I need to start playing around with this bean more and start incorporating it all year – not just in the fall and winter…………….what can I make?