Lentil Minestrone
This soup starts with plenty of vegetables - carrots, celery, sweet potato, zucchini, and tomatoes and hearty lentils simmered to make a rich and tasty meal for a hungry family.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
- 1 yellow onion (peeled and chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (peeled and minced)
- 3 carrots (scrubbed and diced into 1/4-inch pieces)
- 1 celery stalk (diced into 1/4-inch pieces)
- 1 sweet potato (scrubbed and diced into 1/4-inch pieces)
- 1 zucchini (diced into 1/4-inch pieces or 1 cup of frozen zucchini)
- 2 cups canned low-sodium, diced tomatoes (including liquid or fresh tomatoes)
- 1/2 cup lentils (brown or red)
- 8 cups water
- 1 cube low-sodium chicken bouillon
- 4 cups kale (washed and chopped into 1/4-1/2-inch pieces)
Directions
- Put a soup pot on the stove over medium-high heat. When the pot is hot, add the oil. Add onion and garlic and cook about 7 minutes until golden.
- Add carrots, celery, sweet potato, and zucchini and cook about 10 minutes until slightly tender.
- Add tomatoes, lentils, water, and chicken bouillon cube and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat down to low, cover and cook 40 minutes.
- Add the kale and cook an additional 20 minutes. Serve right away or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
USDA Nutrition Policy and Promotion