Lentils & Vegetable Soup

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 55 mins

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium onions, minced
• 3 celery ribs, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 4 ounces smoked ham, diced very fine (or any kind of smoked meat)
• 1 cup dry lentils, washed and sorted
• 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes (or 2 fresh tomatoes)
• 6 cups stock (i use knorrs beef bouillon & water)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley (or 1/4 cup if using fresh)
• salt and black pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 large potato, diced into 1 inch pieces
• 3 carrots, sliced into 1 inch pieces

Recipe

• 1 in a large soup-pot saute the onion, red bell pepper, and celery in olive oil until translucent.
• 2 add ham & spices - cook 5 more minutes stirring occasionally – add a splash or water if it gets dry so as not to let the onions caramelize.
• 3 to the pot add stock, lentils, and tomato and turn heat up to medium. let boil for 20 minutes.
• 4 add chopped carrots & potatoes to pot and reduce heat to simmer – cook another 20 minutes.
• 5 remove bay leaves and let the soup rest 15 minutes then serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and some nice crusty bread :).