Turkey Lentil Soup- A Family Fall Favorite

Turkey Lentil Soup is one of the dinners in the regular rotation for our family at home. It all started when my daughter had to go gluten free, so I was just looking for dinner ideas with no wheat. Lentil soup is one of those recipes that's not normally made with wheat, so you don't have to make any substitutions or change it in any way. It has been a wonderful, tasty, and  comforting addition to our rotation. Being that it's almost fall, and definitely about to be soup season, I thought this was good timing. It's also high potassium and high protein, so I think this will help my nutrition clients. 

I make mine in the crock pot, and it takes about 4 hours on high, once everything gets into the crock pot. It's super easy and that's probably one of the reasons I like making it. 

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey

1 onion

2 crushed or diced cloves garlic

1 16 ounce bag of lentils 

1 small can tomato paste (diced tomatoes or tomato sauce will also work)

8 cups of water

1-2 TBSP chicken broth powder

2 tsp italian seasoning

1 TBSP vinager or lemon juice

Directions:

1. Brown the turkey in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute until clear. 

2. Add onion and turkey mixture to the crock pot, as well as the lentils, water, garlic, and tomato paste. 

3. Stir well. 

4. Set crock pot to 4 hours on high. Cover and let it cook.

5. Set a seperate timer, so that you can add the broth powder, italian seasoning and vinager or lemon juice when there is still 30 minutes on the timer. Mix well, give it a little taste. Add a little bit of salt or pepper as needed.

6. Let is cool for a few minutes. This gets very hot!

This soup is versatile, and you can add more veggies if you like. Carrots, fresh tomatoes, celery or cabbage shreds will all do very well when added for the last 30 minutes. You can also top with a dollop of greek yogurt or a bit of cheese. 

Enjoy!