Easy Hearty Soup with lots of fiber

When the weather turns cold and you are looking for something warm to eat, a great fall soup is an apricot lentil soup.  Years ago a friend and I decided to have a soup making night.  We found a bunch of different recipes and made several soups and it is the one I return to most often.  This is so easy to make and its a hearty soup.

Lentils cooking:

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup dried apricots

1 1/2 cups red lentils

5 cups chicken stock

3 roma (plum) tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped (optional)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Saute onion, garlic, and apricots in olive oil. Add lentils and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
2. Stir in tomatoes (optional), and season with cumin, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Stir in lemon juice. Puree 1/2 of the soup in a blender, then return to the pot. Serve

The finished product:


*Recipe submitted by Karena on allrecipes.com