Meatless Friday - Best Lentil Soup Ever

This is how my kids make me feel most nights....

A friend of mine gave me this recipe and I've been hooked ever since.  She found the original recipe in a pregnancy cookbook so you know that it is chock full of healthy goodness.  She made a couple spice changes--mainly adding garam masala--that makes this hearty soup de-li-cious.  This is what is on our menu for tonight. 

Lentil Soup
1/2 cup brown rice (rinsed)
3 Tbsp canola oil
3 cloves garlic
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onion
1 1/2 cup dried lentils
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp cumin
2 bay leaves
2 - 32 oz containers chicken or vegetable broth

Saute vegetables and garlic in oil until translucent.  I like to add the spices about halfway through so that they can roast a little bit.  Add lentils, rice, bay leaves, and broth.  Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer 1 hour or until lentils & rice is cooked.  Simple and easy, the way I like it.  :)

I've made this with both whole and split lentils and I prefer split lentils.  Either way, I soak them for some amount of time to speed up the cooking time.  Since my kids live on a steady diet of anything-that-I'm-NOT-cooking, I also tend to half the recipe so that I do not have a crazy amount of lentil soup to consume. 

Enjoy!