This flavour jumble number is adapted from smittenkitchen’s lentil soup with sausage, chard, and garlic, which itself is adapted from Adam Roberts’ Secrets of the Best Chefs, where it was provided by Gina DePalma. The adaptations were both central (i.e. note the absence of sausage) and in the details. For example, with the way we run our food swaps, final garnishes like a garlic oil drizzle are particularly difficult to deliver upon, so that step is left in the hands of the swappers.

As I was subbing out the sausage, I wanted something else to bring that hearty flavour to the bowl. My brief fruitless hunt for smoked tofu was no cause for despair when I realized that this baby already delivered on the protein chart with loads of lentils, and that I also had a rockin’ tin of sweet smoked paprika in the cupboard just waiting to jump into the pot.

Fast-forward 1.5 hours and the chunky soup is ready to serve. It is incredibly easy to prepare, a full meal with a side of bread, and suitable for all kinds of restricted diets.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 celery stalks, sliced
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into half-moons
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 cup green lentils, sorted and rinsed
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 10-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 3 cups vegetable broth (optional – can replace with water)
• 2 cups water
• Freshly ground black pepper & salt
• 3 to 4 cups shredded or thinly ribboned Swiss chard leaves

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.

2. Add onion and saute for 3 minutes to start to turn translucent. Add the carrot, celery and garlic, stirring together. Add some salt and pepper and let cook for 8-10 minutes, until vegetables start to soften. Add the paprika, coating the mixture well. Saute for a couple of minutes more.

3. Add the lentils, bay leaves, tomatoes, broth and water. Stir well, bring to boil and then simmer, allowing the lentils to cook (around 45 minutes). Add more water as needed if the lentils aren’t cooking.

4. Once the lentils have cooked, add the ribboned chard, incorporating it into the soup well, and let cook for a few minutes. Meanwhile, try safely digging through your big pot of soup to find those two bay leaves and remove them.

5. Dish out the soup into bowls while hot! Or if you’re going to a food swap or packing a lunch, ladle the soup out into containers and put them in a ice water bath to cool them down safely before putting lids on and refrigerating.

Mmm mmm good (take that, Campbells!).

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This item was part of our food swap on March 25th, 2013.  This dish was swapped for:

• Alison’s Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Cookies
• Sonia’s Lemon Cranberry Scones
• Jasmine’s Orange and Chia Seed Muffin
• Hannah M’s Hungarian Mushroom Soup
• <Hannah R’s Tea Blend