So with Spring comes rain and even tho my body is craving salad to match the spring season, those rainy days call for warm and comfort food. I love love love lentils. First because nutritionally they are great for you, second they are tasty and third they are quick and easy. This soup is wonderful and quick as well. Thanks to All Recipes for the base and then I added a few things. Might try it next time with some coconut milk and perhaps even curry as the flavors go in that direction. The apricots lend just the right amount of sweet.
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced, 2 T Bacon bits
1/3 cup dried apricots
1 1/2 cups red lentils
5 cups chicken stock
1 standard size can of fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice-I used premade 1/3 cup Chia Seeds
Directions
Saute onion, garlic, bacon and apricots in olive oil. Add lentils and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes, and season with cumin, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Stir in lemon juice. You can puree half if you want a smoother soup but even my boys loved the texture and didn’t ask for any meat for dinner..shocker.
I also added Chia seeds. I picked these up at costco and have been adding them to everything..cookies, pancakes, soups, stir fry, salads. They have a great nutty crunchy texture raw, I am loving them. Plus they are a super grain. See more info below!
Chia is an edible seed that comes from the desert plant Salvia hispanica, a member of the mint family that grows abundantly in southern Mexico. You may have seen chia sprouts growing on the novelty planters called Chia Pets, but historically, the seeds have been the most important part of the plant. In pre-Columbian times they were a main component of the Aztec and Mayan diets and were the basic survival ration of Aztec warriors. I’ve read that one tablespoon was believed to sustain an individual for 24 hours. The Aztecs also used chia medicinally to stimulate saliva flow and to relieve joint pain and sore skin.
Chia is very rich in omega-3 fatty acids, even more so than flax seeds. And it has another advantage over flax: chia is so rich in antioxidants that the seeds don’t deteriorate and can be stored for long periods without becoming rancid. And, unlike flax, they do not have to be ground to make their nutrients available to the body. Chia seeds also provide fiber (25 grams give you 6.9 grams of fiber) as well as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, molybdenum, niacin, and zinc.
Another advantage: when added to water and allowed to sit for 30 minutes, chia forms a gel. Researchers suggest that this reaction also takes place in the stomach, slowing the process by which digestive enzymes break down carbohydrates and convert them into sugar.
Chia has a nutlike flavor. You can mix seeds in water and add lime or lemon juice and sugar to make a drink known in Mexico and Central America as “chia fresca.” As with ground flax seeds, you can sprinkle ground or whole chia seeds on cereal, in yogurt or salads, eat them as a snack, or grind them and mix them with flour when making muffins or other baked goods. I find them tasty and an interesting addition to my diet.
Chia is undergoing something of a renaissance after centuries of neglect. It was a major crop in central Mexico between 1500 and 900 B.C. and was still cultivated well into the 16th century, AD, but after the Spanish conquest, authorities banned it because of its close association with Aztec religion (Indians used the seeds as offerings in rituals). Until recently, chia was produced by only a few small growers, but commercial production has resumed in Latin America, and you can now buy the seeds online and in health food stores.
Because of its nutritional value and stability, chia is already being added to a range of foods. Research has shown that adding it to chicken feed makes for eggs rich in omega-3s. Feeding chia to chickens enriches their meat with omega-3s; fed to cattle chia enriches milk with omega-3s. Chia can also be added to commercially prepared infant formulas, baby foods, baked goods, nutrition bars, yogurt, and other foods. Another bonus: insects don’t like the chia plant so it is easier to find organically grown varieties. I expect we’ll soon be hearing much more about chia and its health benefits.
Andrew Weil, M.D.
