I love lentils. I have several different lentil soup recipes that I love. This is one of my favorites. It’s colorful, flavorful and hearty. Plus, it’s easy to make as well.

Ingredients:

4 med carrots, sliced
1 med onion, chopped
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed and drained*
4 cups vegetable broth
1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dill weed
1/4 tsp tarragon
1/4 tsp pepper
1 to 2 cups spinach, torn

Directions:

Place carrots, onions, lentils and broth in a dutch oven or stock pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer 20 to 25 minutes until lentils are tender. Add remaining ingredients, except for spinach, and return to a boil. Add spinach. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes for flavors to meld and spinach to wilt. Season with additional salt, pepper and vinegar to taste.

For a nice extra punch, try exchanging the spinach with kale. Just remove tough stems and chop into strips. For the meat eaters in your family, you can toss in a bit of cooked smoked sausage. Serve with a little flat bread and you have a complete meal.

*For more tender lentil soup, lentils may be soaked overnight before cooking.

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© Copyright 2011. Michaela C. Jones. Please do not copy, repost or reprint without permission.

This is another recipe I shared at Thriving With Celiac for using up leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Soup is so comforting this time of year. Plus, this recipe is so easy. If you don’t have any turkey, try rotisserie chicken in this dish. It’s just as yummy and can be made any time of the year. Want to do an all veggie version? Omit meat and add a can of drained, rinsed, cannellini beans. Yum.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp sea salt
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups cooked turkey or chicken, chopped or shredded
1 cup frozen green beans, thawed and drained, or fresh cleaned and cut small
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice macaroni*

Method:

Sauté  onion, carrots, celery and garlic in dutch oven or large pot, stirring occasionally. When onion begins to turn translucent, sprinkle vegetables with seasoning and salt. Continue to cook until onion is soft and carrots and celery are crisp-tender. Add remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes until macaroni is tender, stirring occasionally.

*Note: I love Tinkyada Pasta Joy pasta for this recipe. It cooks up well without turning mushy.

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© Copyright 2011. Michaela C. Jones. Please do not copy, repost or reprint without permission.

This recipe was originally featured at Thriving With Celiac where I guest blog. I came up with this recipe as a way to utilize leftover Thanksgiving turkey, but this recipe is great year round. You can easily substitute rotisserie chicken for the turkey or use canned white turkey or chicken in a pinch. You can even leave out the potatoes and put the filling in a crust for great pot pie.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced carrots, about 2-3 large
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp gf oat flour, or other suitable flour*
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup frozen peas, thawed and drained, or one cup canned (frozen is better though)
2 cups cooked turkey or chicken, chopped
2 cups prepared mashed potatoes

Method:

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add carrots, onion and garlic. Sauté until onions are soft and carrots are tender. Sprinkle vegetables with oat flour, salt and pepper. Cook and stir about 2 minutes, being careful not to burn the flour. Slowly stir in broth. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir until thickened, about one to two minutes. Reduce heat. Stir in peas and turkey. Heat just until hot. Pour into ungreased casserole dish and level. Top with prepared potatoes. Smooth top. Bake under broiler until lightly browned on top, about 4 to 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

* Note: for this recipe you need a flour with thickening properties. Some flours do not do as well as others. I have not had good results with rice flour for this, but tapioca works well if you do not have oat flour. Additionally, if you have leftover gravy, you can use that instead. Just omit flour and broth and use 1 cup prepared gravy.

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© Copyright 2011. Michaela C. Jones. Please do not copy, repost or reprint without permission.

Wow! It’s been a whirlwind fall. I started an allergy friendly cakery, I Can’t Believe It’s Allergy Free. I released my second book, Make It Allergy Free Too. I was featured in two newspaper articles and I was tapped to be a guest blogger over at Thriving With Celiac. It’s been an amazing few months.

I am also now on Pinterest. Find me over there under the username allergyfreediva, lol. Feel free to follow me. I will be posting more recipes soon and pinning them there as well. It’s a great way to get notified when I add something and be able to zoom right back over here to get the recipe.

Since it’s been so busy here (I also still homeschool), I regret that my blog has suffered a bit. I apologize for that. However, I am raring to go now. Be on the lookout for new posts, recipes and a couple of new eBooks I’m planning. Do you have any comments or suggestions on what you would like to see here? Let me know.