Tomato, Red Lentil and Kale Soup

Red Lentil and Tomato soup is one that my husband asks for a lot. Today’s version includes kale for added nutrition. I julienned the kale as thinly as I could so that the soup would be easy to eat. The kale imparts a very mild taste to the soup and didn’t dramatically change the flavor from my usual less healthy soup.

The foods in this soup that are recommended for their anticoagulant activity (as discussed in chapter 17 of “Life Over Cancer”) are the celery, tomato, onion, garlic, canola oil and fennel seed. These are items I would include in our diet anyway, so why not use them here since they work in the recipe.

If you are looking for a hearty soup that is low in calories and fat but still filling this is a good option. The tomatoes, garlic and onion are also reported to have cancer fighting abilities.

Tomato, Red Lentil and Kale Soup
Serves 8

Ingredients:

½ tablespoon of canola oil
1 red onion, finely minced
6 stalks of celery, finely minced
¼ cup of fresh garlic, minced (allow to stand 10 minutes so that allicin can develop)
28 ounces of canned diced tomatoes
15 ounces of canned tomato sauce
64 ounces of water, filtered
1 pound of red lentils, picked through and rinsed
1 pound of kale, rinsed and finely chopped
1 tablespoon of kosher salt
1 tablespoon of fennel seeds
1 tablespoon of hot crushed peppers (wet hots)
½ tablespoon of freshly cracked pepper (or to taste)

Directions:

Sauté onion, celery and garlic in the canola oil until lightly browned. Add remaining ingredients to the pot and simmer until the lentils are tender. The time it will take for the lentils to become tender is dependent on the age of the dried bean. My lentils were tender in 30 minutes.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 296.92
Calories From Fat (9%) - 26.39

Total Fat - 3.1g
Saturated Fat - 0.41g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 826.15mg
Potassium - 1174.26mg
Total Carbohydrates - 53.59g
Fiber - 11.23g
Sugar - 2.95g
Protein - 19.18g

Comments:

While this soup was cooking it reminded me of sweet Italian sausage because of the headiness of the fennel. I love fennel and add it to many recipes. Southern Italian food is my favorites and that cuisine uses a lot of fennel. It is so nice to now know that it is also good for us.

If you aren’t trying to restrict your fat as much as we are, a little extra virgin olive oil drizzled on the surface of this soup when serving would be fantastic. Also, adding a couple of sliced Tofurky Italian sausages would be very nice in this soup.