Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

Sweet potatoes combine well with just about any food. In this recipe, sweet potatoes plus lentils make a tasty soup.

Preparation time: 25 minutes preparation. Cook time: 50 minutes cooking time (majority of cooking time requires minimal monitoring).

Serves four as a main dish.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 large red onions, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced (to save time, you can use minced garlic in a jar)
• 1½ teaspoons dried thyme
• 10 cups vegetable stock (to save time, use vegetarian bouillon cubes to make vegetable stock; omit salt if you use bouillon)
• 1¼ cups green, brown, or red lentils
• 2 stalks of celery, sliced
• ½ cup minced fresh parsley, divided
• 2 medium sweet potatoes (1 pound), peeled and diced
• ½ teaspoon salt (omit salt if you use bouillon instead of fresh vegetable stock)
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

• In a large pot, warm the olive and sesame oils over medium-high heat. Add onion. Sauté while stirring lightly until onions are soft (5-7 minutes).
• Add garlic and thyme. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Do not overcook garlic. If garlic starts to brown, turn down the heat.
• Raise the heat to high. Stir in stock, lentils, celery, and ¼ cup of the parsley.
• Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
• Cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
• Add the sweet potatoes and cook 20 more minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
• Remove 2 cups of the soup and place in a blender. Carefully blend until thick and smooth. CAUTION: Be very careful when blending, letting steam and heat escape every few seconds by lifting blender lid slowly throughout blending. If steam and heat build up, the lid can blow off the blender (skip the blender step if thinner soup is desired).
• Return the blended soup to the pot with the remaining ¼ cup parsley. Stir and cook 1 more minute to blend.
• Add fresh ground pepper to taste.
• Serve and enjoy!

Per serving: 380 calories; 45 grams of carbohydrates; 18.5 grams of protein; 14 grams of fat; 15 grams of fiber