1 ½ tbsp olive oil
3 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp veggie stock concentrate
good squirt of tomato paste
chopped parsley
salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, with their juice
6 cups water
1.5 cup lentils, picked over and rinsed well
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 potatoes, diced

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, 1 tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper. Cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, and bay leaf, and cook until vegetables begin to soften, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add tomatoes with their liquid, breaking them up with a large spoon. Add the water and lentils and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered. Add potatoes about 30 min into the cooking time, cook until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes. Just before serving stir in the vinegar.

My variations: used 2 carrots for no particular reason, orange lentils as I like the color and balsamic vinegar as I didn’t have red wine vinegar.

Serves 4 – 15 minutes prep time – total time 45 minutes.

Note cooking time for lentils can vary from 20 to 40 minutes depending on how fresh they are. The older they are the longer they take to cook.

Variations: cooked dry pasta short such as elbow macaroni, or break up strands of spaghetti or linguine. Use about 2 ½ cups cooked pasta (1 c dried).

Very tasty and easy to fix, most ingredients usually on hand.