Try to make this “Sunny Summer Soup” – creamy red lentils soup for your lunch or dinner. Light and bright, the soup combines a wide variety of flavors and is rich in nutrients such as fiber, protein, minerals, and vitamins coming from vegetables and lentils. Add some roasted chicken breast pieces and garlic toasted French baguette, and you get a complete and fulfilling meal.

 

Ingredients:

• 8 cups water
• 1 cup red lentils
• 4 medium potatoes
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 orange or yellow bell pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp salt (1 tsp for the soup and 1/2 tsp for chicken), or to taste
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper(1/4 tsp for the soup and 1/4 tsp for chicken), or to taste
• 1/4 cup half&half
• 2-3 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 chicken breast fillets
• French baguette for toasts
• 1 garlic clove

 

Cooking Directions:

1. Rinse lentils. Pour water into a soup pot, add lentils and bring to a boil. Remove the foam.
2. Peel the potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes and add to the soup pot with lentils.
3. Peel the onion, carrot, and bell pepper. Cut vegetables into cubes and add them to the pot. Cover the pot with a lid and cook for about 20 minutes on a medium heat.
4. Preheat the frying pan with vegetable oil. Toast the thinly sliced baguette until golden, then rub them from both sides with a peeled garlic clove.
5. Cut chicken fillets into thin slices. Add salt (1/2 tsp or to taste) and freshly ground black pepper (1/4 tsp or to taste) and sprinkle with the vegetable oil.
6. Roast the chicken fillets on a frying pan until golden brown. Do not overdry.
7. When the vegetables in the soup are soft and ready, add salt (1/2 tsp or to taste) and freshly ground black pepper (1/4 tsp or to taste).
8. Puree the soup with a stick blender or food processor, then pour in the half&half and blend.

Serve the soup with chicken pieces and garlic toasts.