Vegetarian Lentil Soup with Croutons
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- Prep Time 10 minutes
- Total Time 25 minutes
- Yield Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- 2 carrots, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
- 1 bag (1 pound) brown lentils, picked over
- 2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium vegetable broth
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 4 ounces sourdough bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 1/2 cups)
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium. Add onion and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, 1 minute. Add carrots, lentils, broth, bay leaf, cayenne, and 3 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, until lentils are just tender, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaf.
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Meanwhile, on a rimmed baking sheet, toss bread with remaining tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Bake until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes, tossing once halfway through. Serve soup topped with croutons.
Cook's Note
A look at lentils: This earthy-tasting member of the legume family is available in a range of colors and sizes. Lentils are a good source of protein, iron, and phosphorus, and keep for up to a year in an airtight container.
This soup was a nice change since we don't cook with lentils often. I don't even remember Mom cooking with lentils growing up.True, there's a lot of lentils in this soup. Added bonus, high in fiber
This soup was a nice change since we don't cook with lentils often. I don't even remember Mom cooking with lentils growing up.True, there's a lot of lentils in this soup. Added bonus, high in fiber
Yum! My children loved it!
Usually I love Martha's recipes, but I didn't care for this lentil soup recipe. The flavor was good, but it was VERY heavy on the lentils - obviously, it's lentil soup - but I prefer a lentil soup with a higher proportion of other veggies to lentils. This was more like a lentil stew with a few pieces of carrot here and there. It also made far more than 4 servings - we seemed to be eating it for days!