Apple Pumpkin Lentil Soup

Confession - I fell asleep last night before I posted, so this morning I decided to share this again for two reasons - it's REALLLY COLD (our temperature dropped about 30 degrees since yesterday), but I can't really complain.

According to the NY Times:
In Texas, recent warm weather gave way to numbing cold, with the “feels like” reading dropping from 92 to 31 in places like McAllen


I've also been eating a lot of lentils lately.

But the great news is my new stove is due to be delivered this week, so I can finally cook again.

Apple Pumpkin Lentil Soup

 (I'm not sure what happened to the photos, sorry! They vanished.)

I know the rest of the world seems to be into everything pumpkin, but for me, this time of year is all about the apples.

Okay - so this recipe has pumpkin.  I need to keep that rest of the world happy too.

This was a recipe that I debuted here on Yankee Belle as a guest back in 2012, but it's so good and our weather has temporarily cooled down, so before the apples get lost in a deluge of pumpkin, here's a wonderful savory soup.

Apple Pumpkin Lentil Soup 

There wasn’t really a recipe originally. I kind of made it up as I went along based on flavors that I felt belonged together. I guess that’s sort of the pantser way of cooking. But it’s all good in the end.


These are the ingredients I started with:

 

Chicken (or vegetable) broth, canned pumpkin (I used the large can because that’s what I had.), spices (I used Garam Masala, Nutmeg and cinnamon. I LOVE Garam Masala. It does include cinnamon but I wanted more!), apples and lentils.

Assembling the ingredients and chopping up the apples is really the hardest part! After that it’s just a matter of mixing it all together and letting it simmer.

First I added the broth to my Dutch Oven. I used two of these containers of broth because I wanted enough soup to have lunch all week. Feel free to adjust or use a combo of broth and water. I used chicken broth the first time because it was what I had on hand, but I prefer vegetable broth.

I dumped in a whole bunch of the spices after that. Sorry I can’t give measurements, I just shook – a lot. Less on the nutmeg because it has a stronger flavor. You can adjust the spices when it gets to the tasting stage so for now, go with less if you don’t like spicy.
 

Next comes the pumpkin.

Next I peeled and cut up apples. You probably could do it without peeling, but I peeled.
I had a bunch of apples that were starting to go soft so I used about six, but it doesn’t have to be that many. I think I only used three last time. Go with your feelings about apples. For me, you can’t go wrong with lots of apples.


Simmer awhile.
See how specific this is? It really depends on how close you are to wanting to eat. The longer you simmer, the thicker and richer it gets. When you’re about half an hour or so away from wanting to eat, add the rinsed lentils. They absorb a lot of the liquid so this is where you want to check to make sure you don’t have pumpkin apple stew. Add liquid as needed or leave it alone if you like the idea of stew.

I had some pumpkin seeds in the cupboard so I toasted them to sprinkle on top. They added a nice crunch when I was eating.

 Enjoy!

 This tastes really good with some warm focaccia bread.

PS - you can substitute squash for the pumpkin if you don't love pumpkin.



Now - why eat lentils?

I love this description - Lentils, a small but nutritionally mighty member of the legume family, are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber. Not only do lentils help lower cholesterol, they are of special benefit in managing blood-sugar disorders since their high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising rapidly after a meal. But this is far from all lentils have to offer. Lentils also provide good to excellent amounts of seven important minerals, our B-vitamins, and protein—all with virtually no fat. The calorie cost of all this nutrition? Just 230 calories for a whole cup of cooked lentils. This tiny nutritional giant fills you up—not out.