This easy to whip up red lentil soup is extra creamy thanks to the addition of a potato. Healthy, comforting, and made from simple pantry ingredients. It can be vegetarian/vegan if you use vegetarian stock.


It should be soup season, although the temperatures just haven't gotten there. But it is Election Day (stressful!) and I have a very sick daughter (sad), so I am in need of the comfort that soup provides.

I love red lentils. Slender little orange disks that puree so beautifully. I feel healthier just thinking about eating a bowl of lentil soup. Unfortunately, brown lentils are boring to me. I just can't get excited about them. If you feel similarly humdrum about brown lentils, give this red lentil soup a try. It is gently spiced with cumin (not enough to bother my spice-sensitive daughter) and reheats well, so make a batch and enjoy leftovers throughout the week.

This recipe uses one of my favorite kitchen tools, a stick blender or immersion blender. There's nothing I hate more than pouring hot soup into my food processor and then cleaning it all up afterwards. This makes pureeing soups a dream!

Red Lentil Soup

Serves 6-8

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 baking potato, peeled and diced
• 1 1/4 cup red lentils
• 1 1/2 quarts chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• salt and ground pepper, to taste

1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and carrot, and heat for 5 minutes or so until things start to soften. Add the potato, lentils, and broth, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, cover and let it do its thing for about 40 minutes, until everything is tender and the lentils are mushy.

2. Remove from the heat and use a stick blender to puree the soup until smooth. (Alternately, you could puree in batches in a blender or food processor.) Return to low heat and add cumin, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Serve.

Adapted from Food & Wine.

It is downright blustery outside which means only one thing: soup weather. This flavorful tomato and white bean soup is rich tasting and quite filling, perfect for fall and winter.  It is also made up of ingredients that you are already likely to have in your pantry. Make it vegan by using vegetable broth.

What I love about this soup is that the canned whole tomatoes are caramelized in the pan before the other ingredients are added. This caramelization gives an amazing depth and a little natural sweetness to the soup. I used dried beans, but if you were pressed for time, you could use canned. (I would add them near the end of the cooking time however, so that they didn't get too mushy).

Tomato and White Bean Soup

Serves 6. 

For the beans:

• 1 cup dried white beans (cannellini, great white northern, navy)
• 1 onion, quartered
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 bay leaves
• kosher salt

For the soup:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon (or more) crushed red pepper flakes
• kosher salt
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 bunch swiss chard, stems removed, leaves torn into pieces

Beans:
Add dried beans, onion, garlic, and bay leaves to a large pot. Cover with water by about 2 inches. Bring to a simmer, add a few pinches of kosher salt and then reduce heat so that it is barely simmering. Continue to cook until beans are creamy (35-45 minutes). Discard bay leaves.

Soup:
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high. Add the drained whole tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt. Let the tomatoes cook undisturbed until they caramelize on one side, about 5 minutes. Break up the tomatoes with your spoon, scraping up the bottom of the pan and stirring for about 5 minutes until tomatoes are caramelized all over. Transfer tomatoes to a plate.

Heat two more tablespoons of olive oil in the same pot over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in vinegar and tomatoes. Drain beans and add to pot along with the broth. Simmer for 30 minutes or so. Season with salt to taste. Just before serving, stir in the chard and cook until wilted.

Adapted from Bon Appetit.