January is National Soup Month, and what better occasion to add a great new recipe into your repertoire?  Many soups are marketed as a filling but low-calorie addition to your healthy eating plan, but supermarket versions tend to be high in sodium and can get a little pricey for the quality of ingredients you are getting.  Read on for a delicious take on an old classic, and for a fraction of the cost of what you’d pay in a grocery store or restaurant.

Hearty Lentil Soup

1 yellow onion, diced

3 medium carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery stalks, washed and diced

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1.5 cups green lentils, rinsed and drained

1, 14.5 ounce can tomatoes

6 cups water or low-sodium broth

2 cups raw spinach, rinsed, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

9 The Laughing Cow Swiss cheese wedges

In a large pot, heat up olive oil and sauté the onion, carrots, broccoli, and garlic until soft.  Add lentils, tomatoes, liquid, salt, pepper, and cumin.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and let simmer until lentils are soft— this takes about an hour.  To get the thick, rich quality you see in restaurant or canned versions, use an immersion blender to puree about half the contents so you have a thick soup but still some solid elements.  If you don’t have the hand-held option, you can puree some of the soup in a blender—but do let it cool so it’s not dangerously hot—and then return it to your pot.  Add your spinach and stir, and put the heat back on low until the greens are wilted, about five minutes.  Fix yourself a bowl and top with one The Laughing Cow Swiss cheese wedge.  You can stir in the cheese wedge for some added deliciousness.  This recipe makes about 9 cups of soup.

One of the great things about soups is that they are very forgiving.  This soup would be great with other seasonal greens like chard or kale, and even some root vegetables sautéed with the given ingredients.  Soup freezes amazingly well, but stick to portion-sized containers since you’re not going to want to be carving off a chunk of frozen soup before work!  Swap in different flavors of The Laughing Cow cheese wedges to keep it interesting throughout the week: Light Queso Fresco with Chipotle would be great mixed in with your favorite hot sauce, and Garlic & Herb with some chopped green onions would add a ton of freshness!

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