Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon cooking oil

• 1 onion, diced

• 1 large carrot, chopped into bite-sized pieces

• 2 large stalks celery, chopped into bite-sized pieces

• ½ fennel bulb, chopped into bite-sized pieces

• 1 cup dried red lentils

• 4 cups water

• 2 whole bay leaves

• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from ½ large lemon)

• Kosher salt to taste

• Toppings (optional)

Method

1. Rinse the red lentils a few times and drain.

2. Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven and add the onion, carrot, celery, and fennel. Stir to combine and season with salt.

3. Cover and let the vegetables sweat until the onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the lentils, water, and bay leaves and bring to a boil.

5. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

6. Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Taste and season with salt as needed.

7. Ladle into bowls and serve with toppings.

Notes

• You can use pretty much any combination of vegetables. For the soup in the above photo, I omitted the celery and fennel, and added a can of whole tomatoes and lots of fresh herbs from my AeroGarden (mostly Thai basil and a little dill).

• Feel free to adjust the seasonings as desired! I like to use celery salt, garlic powder, and a bit of cayenne pepper in this soup, but you can also use cumin or any other seasonings as you wish.

• My favourite toppings for this soup are cheese (feta or grana padano work well) and pumpkin seeds.