New Soup Recipe

Below is a recipe I made today and it came out pretty tasty, if I do say so myself.  Sorry but I've been on a huge soup kick so I'll be adding a lot of soup recipes through the winter.  Those who know me well, know I am a HUGE advocate for soup.  Like almost crazy about it!

Soup is a wonderful way for RAD (Rare Adipose Disease) sufferers to ease their digestive systems because the ingredients are basically 90% broken down for us already and our system does not need to put in the extra effort.  Plus, who doesn't like to warm up their bodies with a nice hot meal?

This is a vegetarian recipe but if you want you can use chicken stock instead of water.  I normally like to cook all my soups in chicken broth (if you don't make your own, try an organic one in a box - I use Nature's Choice which is the Stop & Shop organic brand) but I wanted to come up with a good, hearty veggie soup and the potato and lentils really fill you up so no real need (except for an extra added taste) to add chicken stock.

Using the crock pot has been a huge help for me because I am normally cooking one thing in the crock and another on the stove (I do most my cooking in one or two days a week) but I am sure this one would work nicely on the stove too.  Lentils do not take as long as other legumes to soften.  Depending on the age of the lentil, they will get soft from about 10 minutes to an hour.  For the purpose of this soup shoot for at least 1/2 hour to let the potatoes soften.  Just bring the broth or water to a boil with the lentil and potatoes in the pot.  Let it boil for 2 to 3 minutes (this breaks down the lentil better for digestion) and then lower the heat to medium-low.

If you even want to get really easy, get a few cans of any beans you like (I think red beans would work well with this one) and cook on the stove for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes.  You ay want to wait to put to the dry ingredients and beans in for about 10 minutes so the fresh ingredients have time to soften.

The benefits: Lentils are high in B1, iron and fiber; ginger is great for digestion; and black and chili peppers help digestion and circulation (to get the warmth to your hand and feet).

Hope you all enjoy and there is many more where this came from.