One of the biggest challenges to healthy eating is finding THE TIME to cook, especially for all of us working long days. So one thing I preach is the principle of “cook once, eat twice.”
One of the easiest, healthy dinner recipes that is great for leftovers is a Lentil and Vegetable soup. It’s nutritious, filling, and something that can be served for the whole family. Find some time in your Sunday or any evening to cook the soup (and you can multitask while it cooks!), and then you can have it once or twice more during the week, depending on how many you’re cooking for.
Lentils are filled with protein and fiber, which fill you up quickly, are great for digestion, and have the added benefit of lowering cholesterol and balancing sugar levels. Lentils are also good sources of folate and magnesium, contributing to heart health. And as a relatively low calorie food, they are great for weight loss, especially when combined with vegetables!
*Note: Another reason that I love lentils is because they are easier-to-digest than most other legumes/beans. if you have trouble digesting some beans, try lentils, and for more “digestion-friendly” preparation, pre-soak your lentils a few hours or overnight with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.
I’ll share with you my delicious LENTIL VEGETABLE SOUP recipe (that I make often) and highly suggest you try:
Notes:
*Personally i like it pretty dense/thick and packed with veggies, so it’s more of a “stew” which you can serve over quinoa (or brown rice, wild rice, millet, amaranth, teff, or “cauliflower rice”).
*I also love topping off this stew/soup with avocado slices, microgreens, coconut yogurt and/or some sauerkraut. It also pairs deliciously well with a slice of my gluten-free seed bread or a few gluten-free seed crackers.
*You can switch up the vegetables; I tend to use what I have in the fridge! I almost always use leeks, 1-2 green veggies, sometimes a white/yellow one, 1 orange veggie and 1 leafy green at the end, but love switching it up, using any variety of: fresh greens, celery, carrots, sweet potato, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, green beans, etc. It’s always delicious, and can keep well in the fridge for a few days.
*If 1 tsp cumin and coriander is a bit too much spice for you, cut it down to 1/2 teaspoon. i personally love these spices and find they help me digest, but feel free to cut back on the spices; it’ll still be delicious!