Description
This simple French Lentil and Mushroom Soup recipe is simmered with a cozy blend of veggies, herbs and greens. It’s healthy yet hearty, naturally vegan and gluten-free, and total French-inspired comfort food.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large leeks (white and light green parts only), halved and sliced*
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 pound baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 5 large cloves garlic
- 2/3 cup dry white wine
- 8 cups vegetable stock
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme*
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups French lentils, rinsed and drained
- 3 large handfuls of baby spinach (or chopped kale or collard greens)
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Sauté the veggies. Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the leeks, celery, mushrooms, and sauté for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour in the white wine and deglaze the pan by using a wooden spoon to gently lift up any brown bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan.
- Simmer. Add in the vegetable stock, thyme and bay leaves and stir to combine. Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer. Add in the lentils and stir to combine. Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender, checking back occasionally to stir the soup so that the lentils do not stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Season. Remove and discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Stir in the spinach and balsamic until the spinach begins to wilt. Then give the soup a taste and season with however much salt, black pepper, and/or extra balsamic you think is needed.
- Serve. Serve the soup warm,* garnished with an extra crack of black pepper (I also sprinkled some microgreens on top of mine), and enjoy!
Notes
Prepping the leeks: Leeks can often have dirt hiding between their inner layers. So I recommend first trimming off and discarding the dark green parts and the ends of each leek. Then carefully slice the leeks in half lengthwise, slice each half into lots of thin half-moons, transfer the chopped leeks to a strainer and rinse with cold water (while tossing the leeks with your fingers to uncover any dirt), and drain.
Herb options: I recommend adding in lots and lots of fresh thyme to this recipe. But you could use a few teaspoons (add to taste) of dried thyme instead, if that’s what you have on hand. Or rosemary, tarragon, and/or herbs de Provence seasoning would be delicious in this recipe too.
A note about broth: This soup will continue to soak up more broth the longer that it sits in a hot pot. So if needed, feel free to add in some extra stock and seasonings to increase the amount of broth.
Storage instructions: Leftover soup can be cooled to room temperature and then transferred to food storage containers, then either stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.