Lentil Soup ~ Tasty, Healthy & Frugal

This is one of my favorite recipes to make especially on chilly days. It is originally from the 1st edition Moosehead Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. I have doctored it a bit to make it thriftier.

Servings: 8
Points per serving: 4
Cooking time: all day
Cost per serving: Less than $ .40
Goes well with: Grilled cheese sandwich(see recipe below), any sandwich

Ingredients & Directions:

Simmer for 4 hours covered:
1 lb raw lentils, rinsed
8 cups of water or stock
2 tsp kosher salt

Saute in 2 tsp of olive oil. Then add to simmering lentils.
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 c. onion, chopped
1 c. celery, minced (I substitute celery leaf or even celery seed if I am out of celery.)
1 c. carrots, chopped

Add these last ingredients about 30 minutes before serving:
black pepper
1 can of diced tomatoes (or use fresh tomatoes--sometimes for a change I use store brand "rotel" tomatoes)
2 Tbs lemon juice
1.5 Tbs brown sugar or molasses
1 Tbs wine vinegar

Hints: Thicken it up by decreasing the liquid slightly or by letting it simmer longer. I cook this all day in the crockpot.

2 Point Grilled Cheese Sandwich
2 slices of nature's own double fiber bread
1 slice Borden 2% cheese (counts as one milk serving)
Spray bread with nonstick spray and grill!

Personal note: This soup was part of the first meal I fixed for my husband when we were dating. I was a strict lacto-ovo vegetarian back then. My body was used to the amount of fiber, but his was not. We ate this meal together, then he got in his car to make the 2 hour commute back home. We dated long distance for that first year. Needless to say it was a bit of a painful drive home for him that trip. :)