Wegman’s always has such a great variety of soup. A few years ago I tried their spicy red lentil chili and was blown away! To my delight they had the recipe online and I have been making this soup ever since. The recipe calls for some things I don’t cook with like cornstarch and butter so I have made my own adjustments to make this soup healthier and easier to make. You really don’t need to add a thickener to this soup because the lentils expand so much it makes the soup thick on it’s own. Also always remember that food is customizable so for the tobasco and seasonings you can alter them according to your tastebuds! I added a few drop of the tobasco in each bowl I served because I happen to love spice. This large pot of soup costs under $10.00 to make and its so filling, cant beat that 😉

Ingredients:

• 1 cup red lentils
• 2 large Tbsp Earth Balance spread
• 1/2 cup white onion- diced
• 1 cup scallions- finely diced
• 1 stalk celery -diced ( I throw the leaves in for flavor)
• 4-5 garlic cloves- diced (I love garlic you can add less if you’d like)
• 1 medium tomato- cored and diced
• 1 large green pepper -finely diced
• 1 large carrot- peeled and finely diced
• 6 cups veggie stock (you can make your own or use store bought)
• 1 Tbsp Tobasco sauce
• 1/2 tsp  turmeric (“few sprinkles”)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin (“”)
• 1/2 tsp  chili powder (“”)
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (one sprinkle)
• sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Start by pouring the veggie broth into a large pot along with the lentils over medium to high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring ocasioanlly and turn heat down to medium low and cover loosely.
2. In a seperate skillet add the earth balance spread over medium to high heat let melt, add the scallions and onions and stir frequently for 3-5 minutes, add the garlic and let cook for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the finely diced carrots, celery, peppers and tomatoes into the skillet and let cook down for 7-8 minutes over medium heat, stirring freqeuntly.
4. Pour the veggie mixture into the pot with the lentils. Add your spices; tumeric, cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder, salt and pepper. Add the tobasco
5. Stir all of the ingredients together, let cook over medium to low heat, loosely covered for about 40 minutes, stirring ocasioanlly.