Red Lentil, Chickpea, and Tomato Soup With Smoked Paprika

Submitted by SB61287

"Found this Crock Pot recipe on one of my favorite blogger's sites, Kalyn's Kitchen. Can't wait to try"

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 large yellow onion, diced small
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon vege-sal (or use 1/2 tsp. salt)
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 cup red lentil
• chickpeas, rinsed
• 5 cups chicken (or use 3 cans chicken or vegetable broth) or 5 cups vegetable stock (or use 3 cans chicken or vegetable broth)
• 2 cans petite diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 dollop sour cream (optional) or 1 plain yogurt, for serving (optional)

directions

1. Heat olive oil in frying pan and saute the diced onion until it's soft and starting to brown lightly, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, smoked paprika, sweet paprika, dried thyme, Vege-Sal, and black pepper and saute 2-3 minutes more, or until spices are fragrant.
2. Add onion-spice mixture to Crock Pot, then rinse out the frying pan with 1 cup of the stock and add to crock pot along with red lentils, rinsed chickpeas, and rest of stock. Cook on high for 2-3 hours, or until lentils are starting to soften and dissolve into the soup. (I cooked mine for 2 1/2 hours. Cooking time will depend partly on how old the lentils are.).
3. When lentils are starting to soften, add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes with juice. Cook for 1-2 hours more on high, or until the lentils and chickpeas are both quite soft. Then remove about 1/2 the soup to a bowl (or the large 8-cup measuring cup I had worked perfectly.) Puree the soup you removed using an immersion blender, food processor, or blender. (If you're using a food processor or blender, be very careful with the hot soup, pureeing in batches if necessary.)
4. Stir the pureed soup back into the soup in the Crock Pot; taste and add more salt or fresh ground black pepper if desired. Let soup cook about 15 minutes more, then serve hot, with sour cream of plain yogurt if desired.