Lentil Soup

I've been craving lentils for a couple of weeks now, but until today I didn't have time to make any. This afternoon, I did what I always do--google the ingredients that I want to be the focus of my dish and then improvise from one recipe. The recipe I found was one I'd actually flagged on my RSS Reader from 101 Cookbooks. I still want to make the "real" recipe sometime (especially the yummy sounding saffron yogurt)--but today I was on a mission to use up some celery that was close to going bad, so I adapted.

I liked that this soup was relatively thick and full of healthy vegetables. I'll freeze some to use for lunch in the coming weeks.

Kathee's Lentil Soup

2 cups lentils
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 c. chopped celery
1 t. sea salt
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 t. cumin
1 28 ounce can chopped tomatoes
2 c. water
2 c. chard, rinsed well, deveined, chopped

Bring pot of water to boil and add lentils. Cook for 20 minutes, drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil in pot and add onions, celery, and salt. After a few minutes, add garlic. After another couple of minutes, add cumin. Cook until soft, then add water, tomatoes, and chard. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.

Serve with avocado chunks.