The Not So Skinny Cook

Creamy mushroom, lentil, and kale soup

Serves 4

This recipe looked delicious, however I made a few adaptations to make it even better:

1. When cooking the lentils I added 2 stalks of celery, 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic. Then I removed them when I drained the lentils. I reserved the liquid I drained and used that to thin the soup as it got too thick
2. I used chicken stock instead of veggie, milk instead of plant based milk, and real soy sauce
3. After adding everything (including the kale), I cooked it on low for another hour, this last step really thickened it up.

 Ingredients

• 1 cup green lentils
• 2 stalks celery, halved
• 1 onion halved
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium shallot2, fine dice (roughly 1/2 cup diced shallot)
• 1 lb mixed mushrooms, stemmed + sliced
• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, minced
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• ½ teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 1 cup milk
• 3-4 kale stalks, stems removed + leaves sliced (1 ½ packed cups of sliced kale)
  fresh bread or toasts, for serving

Directions

1. Cook lentils: In a medium pot cover lentils with water plus about an inch on top. Add the onion, 2 cloves of garlic, the celery, and a large pinch of salt. Simmer for 20 minutes or until just-tender. Drain, set liquid aside and remove the celery, onion, and garlic cloves.
2. In a heavy pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and cook until transparent but not crispy.
3. Add mushrooms and cook until softened, season with salt and pepper.
4. Add the last 3 cloves of garlic and thyme, and cook a few minutes until fragrant.
5. Add the white wine and soy sauce, stir.
6. Add the chicken stock and milk, return to a simmer.
7. Transfer half of the soup into a blender. Blend until creamy and add this back to the soup.
8. Add the lentils and the kale.
9. Bring back to a low simmer for 30 minutes.add the reserved liquid if the soup is too thick (use stock or water if you need more liquid). You can simmer this for another 1 hour or so if you want, just keep an eye on it.
10. Serve with bread or toast.