January is National Soup Month!

With mounds of snow blanketing much of the U.S., this is the perfect time to celebrate a food that’s both comforting and nourishing. There’s nothing better than a bowl of hearty soup to soothe your aching bones after shoveling 2 feet of snow from the driveway. OK, so we don’t shovel snow in South Florida, but it does get chilly now and again- plus we had our share of shoveling while growing up in New Jersey.

We’ve offered you some of our favorite soup recipes: red lentil, brown lentil, Armenian chicken soup, cabbage soup, yogurt soup, and would like to add another red lentil soup recipe to our repertoire.

We hope you’ll enjoy this.


Red Lentil and Vegetable Soup


1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 carrots, pared and chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ tsp. Aleppo red pepper (dash of cayenne pepper can be substituted)
1 – 15 oz. can diced tomatoes (including the liquid)
3 cups water (or vegetable, chicken or beef broth)
1 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed
Salt and pepper to taste
1 (10-oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed
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Fresh lemon wedges


Directions:


1. In a 6 quart pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add carrots and onion and cook about 8 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften and turn light brown. Stir in Aleppo red pepper and cook another minute or so.
2. Add tomatoes and their liquid, water (or broth), lentils, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, tilt the cover, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in spinach and continue cooking for 20 minutes or until lentils and spinach are tender. If soup becomes too thick, add some more liquid to thin it out.
4. Just before serving, stir in freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste.


Serve with warm, crusty bread…… Delicious!!