Red Lentil, Eggplant, Corn and Spinach Soup

The original recipe comes from Clean Eating magazine. I couldn’t help myself though; it didn’t have onions and that just isn’t right in our house! How can you have a vegetable soup without onions? Of course, my meddling didn’t stop there; I had to switch up a few other things: add coconut oil, blend it instead of leaving it as a chowder….all in all, the boys loved it, and it was quick and easy. Perfect for a busy mid-week dinner. Serve it with a hearty “kitchen sink” spinach salad, and you’ve got yourself a delicious and complete dinner.

So, here you go:

Red Lentil, Corn, Eggplant and Spinach Soup

1 medium onion – diced
2 T coconut oil
3 cloves of garlic – minced
5 cups of vegetable stock
1 cup red lentils (sorted and rinsed)
5 cups eggplant – cubed
2 cups organic corn kernels
3 cups organic spinach
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Saute onion in coconut oil until translucent. Add garlic, being careful not to brown.
Meanwhile, bring 5 cups stock to boil. Add lentils, cover and let simmer on medium-low for 5 minutes or so. Add onion and garlic. Add eggplant and corn and simmer until tender (5 – 10 minutes or so). Add spinach until wilts. Transfer to high speed blender or use an immersion blender.

We enjoyed this with some roasted vegetables and herbed Foccacia. What a lovely, nourishing, and inexpensive meal! There’s approximately 18 grams of protein per serving.