Kale and Lentil Soup with Gluten Free Popovers

This soup was so easy and hit the spot on a chilly fall night!  The kids love to play outside with the neighbors when they get done with their homework.  They are usually out there until we drag them in for dinner.  That's good because pretty soon the snow will be here and we will be held captive in our home for months.  I exaggerate, but you cold weather people know exactly what I'm talking about.  The point is, when it's cold outside nothing beats coming in to something warm cooking on the stove. 

I found this searching for healthy soups online at Girl Makes Food.  You can click the link for her recipe.  The only changes I made were substituting dried oregano for parsley (because I was talking on the phone and grabbed oregano instead of dried parsley), 3 cups frozen chopped kale instead of fresh (because I always have it in the freezer), regular lentils instead of red (because I had them in the pantry), and no red pepper flakes since the kids and I are wimpy.  The boys loved the soup.  It's great because it can be made in about a half hour if you have the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients

8 cups Vegetable Broth-I used organic from Costco

1 1/2 cup Red Lentils (rinsed)- I used Meijer's Natural lentils (not red)

2 Carrots

2 Onions

1 bunch of Kale-I used Organic Chopped Frozen Kale

1 clove Garlic

1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (optional)-skipped this

1 T Parsley-added dried oregano (oops!)

Zest of 1/2 Lemon

You put the veggies and lentils into the pot with the broth.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes.  I did 20.  Add the seasoning and lemon zest when you turn off the burner.  It's just that easy!

The only changes I will make next time is to add more carrots.  It didn't seem like enough, my boys agreed.  I'm sure fresh parsley would be perfect.  I just hope I remember next time!  And don't take a phone call.  

This soup is gluten free and vegan!

I served this with gluten free popovers from my Gluten Free on a Shoestring cookbook.  Click the link for the recipe.  Mmmmm....  The popovers are GF, but not Vegan since it has eggs.  I'm thinking you could use an egg substitute.  It's a very simple recipe, so try it.  Let me know if you do make it vegan and I'll update my page.

Zucchini Lasagna

I found this recipe on Skinnytaste.com.  I'm always looking for something new and gluten free.  It's delicious!  Well, let me try again.  It was delicious the next day.  I'm not sure if we were starving and couldn't wait for it to "set up" before slicing in, but it was runny and "okay" the night I made it.  I was about to put it in the "probably never make again" pile, when I reheated the leftovers for the kids and I for lunch the next day.  To myself I thought, this tastes great.  Then I started to hear the kids "mmmmmm" and knew they felt the same.  I would DEFINITELY make it again, just let it set over night.  The flavors developed, it wasn't runny and held up fine when you sliced into it.  Just plain YUM!

Click on the above link to get the full recipe.  I pretty much stuck to the recipe this time.  I know, shocker.  I toyed with the idea of not even blogging this recipe, but decided you needed to know about it.  Give it a try!

Kale and White Bean Soup

This soup is absolutely delicious.  My whole family loved it (hubby, 9 year old and 12 year old).  If you are looking for a new soup to try for the cool weather that is coming this fall, this is the one!  I follow a lot of blogs.  One that has really good healthy recipes is the Nourished Kitchen.  That is where I got the recipe for this soup:  The Nourished Kitchen.

I did make a few modifications, but nothing major.  I'll put my adaptations in red.  Don't ever feel you can't make something because you don't have all of the ingredients or don't like something.  Just adapt it to your liking.

Kale and White Bean Soup

• 2 cups white beans (such as cannellini beans) (I used canned, organic and rinsed them well)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (did not need since I used canned beans)
• 1 tablespoon butter or ghee (did not need since I used canned beans)
• 4 ounces bacon (chopped) (I use Hormel 100% Natural with no nitrates or preservatives)
• 1 medium yellow onion (finely chopped) (I only had red onion)
• 2 medium carrots (peeled and finely chopped)
• 3 ribs celery (finely chopped)  (I used 2)
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 branch rosemary
• rind of a hunk of parmesan cheese (optional) (I used this)
• 1/2 teaspoon piment d'Esplette (or paprika) (I used smoked paprika from Trader Joe's)
• 1 bunch kale (trimmed of tough stems and sliced thin) (I used 2 cups organic chopped kale)
• extra virgin olive oil (to serve) (didn't add this, added fresh grated parmesan on top)

Instructions  I skipped 1-2 since I used canned

1. Toss the beans in a large mixing bowl, cover with hot water by 2 inches and stir in baking soda. Soak for 18 to 24 hours, changing the water once or twice. Drain and rinse well.
2. Transfer the soaked beans into a large stock pot, cover with water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until beans are tender - about 1 1/2 hours. Drain.
3. Melt butter in a large stock pot until it froths. Stir in bacon and cook until crispy. Stir in onion, carrots, celery and garlic. I added 3 cloves of garlic since it didn't really say how much to add.  Stir frequently, and fry until fragrant - about 10 minutes.
4. Pour in chicken stock, add rosemary, bay and the rind of a piece of parmesan cheese. Simmer over medium heat, covered, for 20 to 30 minutes.
5. Remove from heat, stir in piment d'Esplette I used smoked paprika, beans and kale. Cover and allow the kale to wilt in the residual heat of the soup for about 5 minutes. Salt as needed and serve with extra virgin olive oil.

LOVED this recipe.  Enjoy it!!!