SOUP LOVE.

i decided to challenge myself and only make and eat vegetarian meals for one week. not for any real reason other than to see if i could do it. we do live in texas you know. we are big meat eaters around here and although i don't think i could ever go completely without because of my beloved burgers, i fracken LOVE my burgers, i do think that i can go without for awhile.

so far it's been pretty easy, granted it's only been two full days but i don't crave or miss it yet. i also feel a lot cleaner, lighter even. and not in terms of weight but just inner body wise if that makes sense. aubrey brought home five guys this afternoon and ate a big ol' burger right in front of me and i didn't even want a bite. who knows, maybe i will cut out meat for the most part. scratch that, maybe i'll cut out steak, chicken and pork. i could never give up sushi... that's a whole different story.

plum decided to jump on this "no meat for a week" bus with me and she is enjoying it too. we made a big ol' pot of vegetable lentil soup this afternoon... we only had chicken broth, so i guess that was technically cheating, but it doesn't feel like it since there was no actual meat in our soup. i am going to the market to get some vegetable broth for our next soup day.

i adapted the recipe from my for the love of soup cookbook. it needed more flavor in my opinion, so i added additional spices and i also added more vegetables. it turned out quite delicious. i thought for sure that milla, birdie and i would be the only ones eating this big pot of lentil soup, but julian was also a huge fan. he had, count them, FOUR bowls. we basically ate lentil soup all day long and now it's gone. the whole pot... G O N E. i highly recommend this recipe. here it is... this is my version, adapted from the book.

ingredients:
1 1/2 cups lentils (brown or green) rinsed
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 leeks, white and light parts only, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
4 cups water
3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tbsp fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
2 bay leaves
1 hefty pinch marjoram
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
maggi seasoning to taste

first cover lentils in boiling water and let stand 15 minutes. heat olive oil in large pot. add leaks, onions, garlic and celery. cook until soft, about 4 minutes. pour in stock, water, carrots, potatoes, lentils, thyme, marjoram, bay leaves and tomato paste, then bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. discard bay leaves. add red wine vinegar, season with salt, pepper and maggi to taste. enjoy with fresh baked bread. yum! we added a sprinkle of cheese and a swirl of flavored olive oil to ours. it was incredible. like i said, the entire pot is gone.

we are big soup lovers in this house. we are hoping to make a new soup each week and i will do my best to share them here with you.

footnote: i totally spaced on which day it was. i normally do bits + pieces each friday but this week i didn't get around to snapping photos for it. i will post b+p tomorrow instead. have a great weekend friends!