This winter soup recipe is catered to healing, warming and nurturing your body throughout these final cold winter days.

You don’t need to pack on an extra layer of skin to keep warm and healthy this winter season. Instead, you can layer on the overcoats and focus on immune-boosting, plant-based ingredients that are light but pack a heavy nutritional punch.

This winter soup recipes stocks up on the plant-based fiber and protein, which are inherent in quinoa, lentils and chickpeas, as well as the healing properties of kale, carrots, mushrooms, peppers, garlic and onion. The result is a delicious veggie soup that goes down easy with just enough bite to satisfy your desire to chew.

You can replace the lentils and beans with any other legume or grain as well as substitute in other vegetables in place of the others. Play around with zucchini, celery and eggplants for more textures and tastes. Feel free to add in other herbs, like sage, cumin or thyme. Start with the following foundation and then branch off in whatever direction you like.

Winter Soup Recipe

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh kale, stemmed
• 1/4 cup red lentils
• 1/4 cup green lentils
• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1 can (15 oz) canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 stalk celery
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 6-8 cremini mushrooms
• 1/2 white onion
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and whole
• 2 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

Directions

Chop all the veggies, except for the garlic, into bite-sized pieces. Place all ingredients into a pot over medium-high heat. Add 5-6 cups water, or to the point that the water is about 1 inch above the vegetables. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for 45 minutes to one hour or until all is tender. Enjoy!

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Photo Credit: GlowKitchen

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