Red Lentil and Chickpea Crock Pot Soup

Red Lentil and Chickpea Crock Pot Soup Recipe

By kimmy Published: April 2, 2014

• Yield: 8 Servings
• Prep: 15 mins
• Cook: 8 hrs 0 min
• Ready In: 8 hrs 15 mins

Ingredients

• 1 large onion diced small
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp garlic minced
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp thyme dried
• 1 tsp Vege-Sal (or use 1/2 tsp. salt)
• black pepper fresh ground, to taste
• 1 cup red lentils
• 2 cans chickpeas rinsed
• 5 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cans tomatoes petite dice, with juice (14.5 oz. can)
• Tofutti sour supreme or regular sour cream/plain yogurt for serving, optional

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in frying pan and saute the diced onion until it's soft and starting to brown lightly, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, smoked paprika, sweet paprika, dried thyme, Vege-Sal, and black pepper and saute 2-3 minutes more, or until spices are fragrant.
   
2. Add onion-spice mixture to CrockPot, then rinse out the frying pan with 1 cup of the stock and add to crockpot along with red lentils, rinsed chickpeas, and rest of stock. Cook on high for 2-3 hours, or until lentils are starting to soften and dissolve into the soup. (I cooked mine for 31/2 hours. Cooking time will depend partly on how old the lentils are.)
   
3. When lentils are starting to soften, add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes with juice. Cook for 2-3 hours more on high, or until the lentils and chickpeas are both quite soft. Then remove about 1/2 the soup to a bowl (or the large 8-cup measuring cup I had worked perfectly.) Puree the soup you removed using an immersion blender, food processor, or blender. (If you're using a food processor or blender, be very careful with the hot soup, pureeing in batches if necessary.)
   
4. Stir the pureed soup back into the soup in the CrockPot; taste and add more salt or fresh ground black pepper if desired. Let soup cook about 20 minutes more, then serve hot, with sour cream of plain yogurt if desired.
   

• Cuisine: Vegetarian
• Skill Level: Easy