This is a great nourishing soup for a cold rainy day

Ingredients:
This is one of my favourites. This is a basic recipe –

*1 c red or green lentils, rinsed
4 c homemade chicken or veggie broth or water
2 tbsp olive oil and butter
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery, chopped
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Oregano, curry and bay leaf

Directions:

Sauté onion for about 3 min in the olive oil, add salt and pepper, add garlic and spices sauté for another minute or so
Add carrots, celery sauté till soft about 5 min or so
Add broth or water, bay leaf, bring to a boil, add lentils, then simmer for about 20 min until the lentils are soft
Adjust seasonings
Top with cilantro or parsley

Be creative with this one add in wild rice or yams or potatoes, at the end of cooking add in spinach, kale or swiss chard. Add meat if you want to.

Tips for Preparing Lentils:
Lentils can be prepared the day of serving since they do not need to be presoaked. Place the lentils in a strainer, and rinse them thoroughly under cool running water.

To boil lentils, use two cups of liquid for each cup of lentils. Lentils placed in already boiling water will be easier to digest than those that were brought to a boil with the water. When the water returns to a boil, turn down the heat to simmer and cover. Green lentils usually take 30 minutes, while red ones require 20 minutes.

Lentils, a small but nutritionally mighty member of the legume family, are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber. Not only do lentils help lower cholesterol, they are of special benefit in managing blood-sugar disorders since their high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising rapidly after a meal. But this is far from all lentils have to offer. Lentils also provide good to excellent amounts of iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc and vitamins B1 B2 B3, A and K.