Hurry-up Red Lentil Soup

If you are like me, you read a lot of vegan blogs.  As I have always said, vegan blogs really helped me transition so easily and well to a plant-based diet and vegan lifestyle. My friends at Vegan Mainstream started VStream Zine to give readers “a pulse on the vegan blog world.”  I am so excited to share that I have an article in the forthcoming “Changes & Transformation: Me. You. All of Us.” issue of VStream!

This 50-page online magazine is packed with articles from your favorite vegan bloggers, community leaders, chefs, and activists. Learn from them how to transform your kitchen, how fashion can save animals, what to say to the vegan opposition, why it’s time to overcome the fear of change, the challenges of transitioning a community and of course some mouthwatering recipes. These stories are not only informative, but they also encourage us all to make a difference in our own communities.

Sign up for a free sneak preview of this issue, due out April 22, 2012.  You can even pre-order it – the cost is only $1.99!  Here’s a glimpse into the theme of my article:

Don’t assume that your reality today defines where you will be one year, five years or ten years from now. Open your compassionate heart to the possibilities.

Five years ago I didn’t know I would fall in love with lentils.  Brown, green, red, I love them all. But they aren’t all the same.  Red lentils are much like split-peas. They get mushy – this is a good thing – and are perfect for an Indian dal or for a thick soup. In fact, not so long ago I made a red lentil dish in which I wasn’t quite sure if I had made dal or soup.

One day last week I got caught up in a project and ended up working out much later in the morning than I planned.  I don’t know about you but I tend to avoid breakfast until after a workout so this delayed exercise session led to a bit of a nutritional fail. I returned from my workout, between 11:30 and 12:00, and I wanted lunch ASAP.  I knew I could cook lentils up in no time.  I grabbed a few things

and opted for a very simple soup.  Carrots, tomato, lentils + my basics of homemade vegetable stock, garlic, and onion = go!

Hurry-Up Red Lentil Soup

by JL goes Vegan: Food & Fitness with a side of Kale

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Yellow onion (half), diced
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 tomato, cut into large chunks
• 1 cup dry red lentils (no need to soak, just rinse and drain)
• 2 cups vegetable broth/stock (I used homemade)
• Juice of half a lemon
• Iodized sea salt, to taste

Instructions

1. Saute garlic and onion in a few tablespoons of vegetable stock in an uncovered pressure cooker.
2. Add carrots and saute for a few minutes.
3. Add tomato chunks and garam masala and stir well.
4. Add lentils and vegetable stock, stir, and lock the pressure cooker lid into place.
5. Bring to pressure and cook for 6 minutes at pressure.
6. Remove from heat and use the quick release method (hold the pressure cooker under cold water until pressure is released).
7. Open the pressure cooker lid, away from you.
8. Add lemon juice and taste before adding salt.
9. Salt, as needed (I used about 1/2 a teaspoon).

This soup is wonderful over grains.

Or on its own.

It’s hard to make this brown-ish soup look pretty but it sure was good!

This is a perfect example of why I love my pressure cooker so much. At 11:45 a.m. I wanted red lentil soup for lunch. At 12:05 p.m. I was eating it!

Tags: lentilspressure cookerred lentilssoupvegan mainstreamvstreamvstream zine

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