Sunday Supper Sisters: Spicy Lentil Soup

Hi everyone, I am sorry for the long break.... Jes and I have been very naughty! Did you know that Jes has a make-up youtube account? It is pretty awesome, but also takes a lot of her time. I have a classroom blog as well. Unfortunately, that one is private to the students in my classroom, so I can't share with you all the fun I have everyday!

I logged on and noticed we had over 1000 site views since I have been on last. I suppose that doesn't seem like that much, but it made me realize, maybe I should keep posting. Especially since my dad brought it up at Christmas this year :)

So, without further ado: Spicy Lentil Soup

Jes ended up with a sinus infection while her little man had a double ear infection. What terrible luck really, and on New Years Day. I wanted to make her some soup to help keep her hydrated, and give her a bit of a break from cooking dinner.

Normally, I would make her chicken noodle soup but.... we just got home from Mark's family and our fridge and freezer were fairly empty, I scrounged a viola, I did have the ingredients for Lentil Soup.

4 C. Chicken Broth
1 Stalk Celery
2 Carrots
1 Onion
3 Cloves Garlic
1 Can Diced Tomatoes (with Green Chilies because I like a little heat)
1/4th tsp Thyme Leaves
1 Bay Leaf
1 1/4 C Lentils
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
1 Tbsp Cooking Sherry

Chop the Veggies

Pour Olive Oil in the bottom of the pan, heat it up.

Add the carrots, celery, and onion. Meanwhile, chop up that garlic.

Cook the veggies until tender, about 10 minutes.

Toss in the garlic and cook for about 1 more minute. Liberally add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour in the can of diced tomatoes, with green chilies. This is what gives the lentil soup a little bit of a kick and really ups the flavor. If you only have diced tomatoes, no problem! Just toss them in, it will still be really good.

Add 4 cups of chicken stock, lentils, the bay leaf, and thyme.

Bring to a simmer, cover and turn on to low heat.

Let cook for 20-25 minutes until the lentils are soft and the veggies are tender. Add 1 tsp of Cooking Sherry or Sherry Vinegar, I was out of Vinegar.

I prefer my soup a little bit creamy so I pulled out my immersion blender.

My aunt gave me the blender for my wedding 8 years ago, it has multiple attachments and it was one of those things that I never knew I needed, and occasionally I find an attachment I can't believe I lived without.

Blend up that soup until you have your preferred consistency, I like to puree about 1/4 of it myself. Also, if you don't have an immersion blender, you could put it in a mixer to puree it.

Since this is going to my sisters, I put it in a container for her. I love the Ziplock 4 cup twist on top for freezing/storing soup.

I also had enough for Mark and I and sat down immediately to eat my bowl. Yes! I did artfully arrange the three carrots on the top. The fact of the matter is that lentil soup, well it's just not that attractive to photograph.

I was trying out a new no egg bread recipe. My loafs ended up looking like footballs which is awesome!

The soup and the bread were absolutely wonderful together!

I even got to spend more time with this little man! He moves so fast that I can't always get him into focus! He doesn't look like he is suffering from a double ear infection does he. What a champ!