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A healthy diet doesn’t mean you need to lack in flavor or comfort food. Eating healthy is all about the ingredients and how you combine them. Lentils are great to add to any diet because of their high essential vitamin, mineral and fiber content. They are an ideal choice for replacing meats in a vegetarian or vegan diet. Another ideal choice for healthy eating that adds to not only nutrition, but flavor too? Hello hemp hearts.

Hemp hearts, also known as hemp seeds, are exactly what they sound like – the seed of the hemp plant. They are rich in essential fatty acids, proteins, vitamins and minerals. All the sought-after amino acids, fatty acids and protein levels make hemp hearts a great addition to a healthy diet. Hemp hearts have a slight nutty flavor and offer a slight rich with a pleasant chewy texture.

Adding hemp hearts to any soup will up the health aspect, but combining lentils with hemp hearts is a healthy soup match made in heaven. Read on below for a simple yet delicious, power-packed, lentil and hemp heart soup.

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Ready in 55 minutes

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

  • 1 cup uncooked green lentils
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons hemp seed oil
  • 2 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 medium sized yellow onion, diced
  • 5 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 ribs of celery, diced
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons hemp hearts
  • 1 cup baby spinach
  • 1 cup chopped kale
  • ½ lemon, juiced and de-seeded

Preparation

  1. Cook lentils in water as instructed by the packaging, about 30 minutes or until tender but still has a little bite
  2. While waiting for the lentils to cook, in a different pot sauté the carrots, onions, garlic and celery in the butter and hemp oil for about 5 minutes
  3. Add the salt, cumin, curry powder, white pepper, tomato paste, chicken bouillon paste and chicken broth in the pot, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes
  4. Add cooked lentils, hemp hearts and lemon juice and adjust the seasonings to your taste
  5. Ladle a third of the soup into a blender and puree until its thickened, and then add it back to the pot, add a little water to adjust consistency if necessary
  6. Add the spinach and kale and simmer for another 5-10 minutes or until the greens are wilted. Serve while hot with a dash of hot pepper flakes if you’d like!

Tips

  • I cook the lentils separately because I find that they end up more tender being cooked without all the other ingredients
  • Substitute the butter for vegan butter, the chicken bouillon and broth for vegetable ones to make this dish vegan

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