We love simple, clean, and organic ingredients. We also love to cook once and use it in different ways throughout the week. Bulk prep once a week makes for quick and easy meals when time gets crunched. Here is a delicious way to make one meal and use it in several ways to save time and money.
This rustic red lentil soup has just six simple and nutritious ingredients. Lentils are powerhouses that contain beneficial nutrients like fiber, protein, iron, folate, and magnesium.
High fiber foods like lentils help lower cholesterol, regulate blood sugar, and help prevent heart disease.
Folate contributes to lower levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that, when elevated, increases the risk of heart disease.
Magnesium helps to relax your veins and arteries, improving circulation and therefore the flow of nutrition throughout our body.
The iron in lentils helps sustain your energy too. Iron is especially important for pregnant, breastfeeding, or menstruating women.
Garnish this superfood soup with a Kale Detox Salad to amp up the vitamins and nutrients. You get the cleansing benefits of apple cider vinegar. Raw, organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar can be used in many ways from salad dressings to a home cleaning agent and has powerful detoxing and alkalizing properties. The salad is fabulous on it’s own too. Eat it as a side dish or top with some protein for lunch.
Are you tired of brown rice or quinoa? Try coconut black rice. It is a gluten-free, rich and satisfying side for any meal. You can also make it sweet and eat it for breakfast. Make one big pot at the beginning of the week and enjoy it for days.
Try combining the rice, soup, and salad for a delicious, satisfying meal!
Rustic Red Lentil Soup*
Roast one large purple onion and two cloves of garlic: cut off the skin and toss in extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. Wrap in tinfoil and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes for the garlic and 30–35 minutes for the onion. Check the onion at 25 minutes to ensure it’s not burning as all oven strengths vary. You want the onion to be golden brown on the edges for maximum flavor.
In a soup pot, add:
1 cup of red lentils
1 cup of water
3 1/2 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup of chopped carrots
sea salt and pepper
Cook for 30–35 minutes until lentils are tender. Add in the roasted onion and garlic and cook for another five minutes. Pour all contents into a blender and puree for 30 seconds. If you desire a thinner consistency, add more vegetable broth.
Garnish with fresh squeezed lemon, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and the shredded Kale Detox Salad. The soup with the kale salad texture and flavors complement each other! To make it hearty, add Coconut Black Rice to your liking. Enjoy!
Shredded Kale Detox Salad*
Chop l medium head of lacinato kale into thin strips.
Dressing:
Whisk together:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
5 tablespoons lemon juice
sea salt and pepper to taste
Massage dressing into the kale with your hands to ensure it’s evenly coated. Use the amount that coats your kale. Top with roasted, salted sunflower seeds and sprinkle nutritional yeast to your liking.
Coconut Black Rice*
Cook 1 cup of black organic rice according to the package instructions with one 13 1/2 ounce can of organic coconut milk and 1/2 cup of organic vegetable stock.
Optional: Add a 1-inch size of kombu in the rice while cooking. You don’t even need to eat the kombu, although you can. You can toss it after the rice is made. All the nutrients of the kombu are absorbed by whatever grain or bean you are boiling. Kombu is known for reducing cholesterol and hypertension and aids in the detoxing process. It is high in iodine, an essential nutrient vital to hormone production and thyroid function. It is also rich in iron, calcium, vitamins A and C, and has antibacterial properties.
Season with Himalayan sea salt.
Breakfast option: Add cinnamon, a 1/4 cup of almond milk, maple syrup or honey, and fresh berries. Stir and enjoy!
Enjoy the melody of flavors, nutrients and antioxidants to embody wellness!
*Use organic ingredients, if possible.
Christine Beal Dunst and Stephanie Rapp are the founders of Embody Wellness Company, specializing in creating customizable holistic wellness and nutrition programs targeted at life’s most important milestones: marriage, children, and career. For more information, visit EmbodyWellnessCompany.com
