Creamy Tomato and Lentil Soup

It's no secret I love lentils.  I grew up eating Mjadra because my aunt is Lebanese.  In fact, I grew up eating a lot of Mediterranean dishes and I have a great passion for them.   A couple weeks ago, my daughter Ella and I made our almost weekly trip to Costco to pick up a few things, and  to get "examples" as my daughter calls them....of course, she means samples!  LOL  Well, we tried many fabulous things, as always, while we were there.  BUT, we came across a Creamy Tomato Lentil Soup that was DELICIOUS!  Ella raved about how good it was and I really enjoyed it too!  Then came the "can we get some Mom?!" question.  Buy some, when I can make it homemade?!  Nah!  I told Ella we'd make some very soon....and that we did.

The creamy, tomatoey, lentily goodness!  Mmmmmmmm!!!  This soup had the same flavor as the soup I tasted in Costco we enjoyed so much!  Best of all, it was not only super cheap to make, but super easy to make as well.  Not only that, my version was most likely healthier as well since I used unsweetened almond milk to make it "creamy" instead of cream.  Delish!  I can't wait for you to try it!

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:
2 cups red lentils
15.5 oz. can Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
16 oz. can tomato sauce
2 cups red onion, minced
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. paprika
5 cups vegetable broth
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
non-fat Greek yogurt

Directions: (Use a 4 quart or larger slow cooker for this recipe)

Pour the lentils and beans into your crock.

Add in the onions.

Pour in the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, cumin and paprika.

Add in the vegetable broth and give it a quick stir.

Cook on LOW for 8 hours, or on HIGH for 4 hours.

At this point, you have the choice of making your soup a bit smoother by using an immersion blender and pureeing it for a bit, or you can leave it the way it is.  It's up to you.

You will then pour the 2 cups of unsweetened almond milk in a mixing bowl and slowly add in about 2 cups of the lentil soup while stirring constantly.  This is your way of tempering the almond milk so it does not curdle.

Pour this mixture back into your soup and then cook on LOW for about 15-30 mins, so the temperature warms back up a bit.

Serve with a dollop of non-fat Greek yogurt and enjoy!