Slow Cooker Lentil Soup with Baked Sweet Potato

slow cooker lentil soup being ladled into a bowl

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Slow Cooker Lentil Soup with Baked Sweet Potato

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 5 30

Total Time 6

Servings

Ingredients

Slow Cooker Lentil Soup

1 cup dry brown or green lentils
1 cup chopped Vidalia or Spanish onion
2 stalks of celery chopped
1 cup carrots chopped
1 clove garlic crushed
4 cups low sodium vegetable broth - or water (add an extra ½ tsp salt if using water)
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups packed baby spinach (or other chopped dark leafy greens)
1/8 tsp. Himalayan cooking salt (or to taste*)

Baked Sweet Potatoes

2 large sweet potatoes or yams

Instructions

Slow Cooker Lentil Soup

Rinse and sort lentils and place in slow cooker.
Add onion, celery, carrots, garlic, vegetable broth and bay leaves.
Cook on high** for approximately 5 hours or low for 8 hours.
Remove bay leaves and add thyme, pepper and baby spinach and continue to cook on low for approximately 30 minutes.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Preheat toaster oven*** to 400 degrees.
Scrub sweet potatoes and pat dry.
Prick the top of each potato several times with a fork.
Place potatoes on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
Bake approximately 1 hour (convection setting) or until potatoes feel soft when squeezed gently with tongs or oven mitt.

Serving

Slice sweet potatoes in half and then run the knife lengthwise and crosswise to dice the potato in the skin.
Scoop out each half into a pasta or soup bowl.
Ladle approximately ¼ of the slow cooker lentil soup over each portion of sweet potato.
Add salt to taste and serve.

Notes

*I salt individual servings instead of adding salt when cooking. This provides a stronger flavor while reducing the overall sodium content.
**I make this soup in my 25 year-old Crock Pot. A newer slow cooker would likely require less time or a lower setting.
***I found baking potatoes in our toaster oven on the convection setting is quicker, more economical and yields better results. Of course a conventional oven can also be used, but it may require a little more time.

Recipe Options

If you don't want to take the time to bake the sweet potatoes, you can dice them (leave the skin on) and add them to the slow cooker with the other ingredients.

You can also add frozen chopped greens—such as kale or collard greens—at the start of cook time instead of fresh chopped greens at the end.

Note: Nutrition information is a rough estimate for special dietary needs. I subscribe to the theories presented in the book Whole and believe we should focus on eating a variety of whole foods instead of counting calories or keeping track of individual nutrients.

Nutrition