Apricot Lentil Soup

I haven’t made this soup in a while so this was the best picture I had. The apricot lentil soup is the one on the left. On the front is a delicious pumpkin soup

During my undergrad years, I used to work at a summer camp, helping kids of all ages cook and learn new recipes. As a nutritionist, I tried to inject healthy eating in the mix and boy, was it hard! I’d have days where kids would cry and complain as I wasn’t feeding them enough sugar. Even older kids and parents were complaining that the “cooking class sucked” this year. It was truly astounding to see that these kids would literally eat sugar and expected to be fed sugar for each class but nope! Not while I was around. I did my best to gradually make healthy eating fun and hope that those kids didn’t develop poor eating habits. Anyway, I digress… we had a “gourmet class” upstairs which was lead by a woman named Christine. Christine had the most amazing recipes and I have her to thank for sharing this one with me. I’ve made a few tweaks to it since learning it but it still reminds me of the most savoury and hearty soups I can think of. Since it yields a very large batch, I often share it with friends or freeze some, which saves a lot of time and headache for meal planning.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans lentils (drained and rinsed) or 2 lb bag of mixed dried lentils (I usually get this one and rinse it in a large shallow pan until the water is not as bubbly)

• 10 cups vegetable stock (You can use sodium reduced bouillon cubes for lazy days or for even more lazier days buy low sodium vegetable broth)

• 1 cup dried apricots

• 2 tbsp oil

• 1 large onion - chopped

• 1 large green pepper - chopped

• 1 large red pepper - chopped

• 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (once again, make sure to buy low to no sodium added)

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp cardamom (I just break 5-6 pods and empty them and throw away the skins)

• 1/4 tsp cayenne

• 1 tbsp paprika

• 2 tsp sale

• 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped

Method:

1. In a large pot, bring lentils to a boil in the vegetable stock

2. Reduce heat and add apricots

3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and peppers. Cook 5 minutes or until softened.

4. Add tomatoes, cinnamon, cardamom, cayenne, paprika, and salt.

5. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 7 minutes until tender.

6. Stir vegetables into cooked lentils and summer for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.