• 32oz (4 cups) box of chicken or veg stock
  • 1 ham hock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • splash of good balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp herbes de provence
  • 2 cups lentils (i used a mix of brown and red)
  • 1 onion minced
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 carrots cut bite sized
  • 2 stalks celery minced
  • optional ingredient towards the end and good to have on hand, 1 cup of veg stock or water

there seems to be a trend here, i am officially crock pot crazy. i can’t help myself, it’s so easy and i don’t have to be home to cook a good meal.

the other day while food shopping i came across ham hocks. 3 of them to be exact. i put 2 in the freezer and figured i would figure out what to do with the other one. lentils or a split pea soup? lentils won. i am a die hard lentil fan, did i ever tell you that? one of my favorite meals is lentils over rice.

so about 20 minutes before i had to run for a day of schlepping this one here and that one there, i threw together a really quick soup. really quick, as in with in 10 minutes (i timed myself). i had the everything sauteed and in the pot on low and ready to go (i was proud of myself). since most of you don’t really know me, i will let you in on something, i am not good at making a dish and walking away from it. i am also not good at making a dish in 10 minutes, i start to doubt myself. wouldn’t you know it, not 2 hours later i was screaming inside to go home and check this soup out (i really need to stop that).

seriously, this was probably one of the best lentil soups i have eaten in my life. i am not just talking about soup i make, i mean ever as in restaurant or deli’s. it was smokey and delicious. e, who is not a huge lentil fan but will mostly eat anything i make had 2 bowls and then went at it with a piece of bread. all night he kept telling me how good it was (i love him).

so folks, lentil soup it is. another crock pot recipe under my belt. i am telling you, i will master this thing by next winter. i am hoping for more stews and more soups, hell, maybe even desserts! so stay tuned…more to come :-)

{crock pot} lentil soup

  1. in your crock pot on low add: 4 cups stock, ham hock, bay leaf, balsamic vinegar, herbes de provence,  lentils and a pinch of salt and pepper.
  2. in a skillet with a touch of olive oil add and saute: onion, garlic, carrot and celery. when cooked add it to your crock pot.
  3. i was out all day, over 6 hours and this cooked from about 9:45 in the morning till about 5 in the evening. at 5 i took the ham hock out and tried to get some meat out of it with very little luck. put the meat back in the crock pot (i got a trace amount but enough to see it in every bowl) and turned it to warm. when i finally got to sit down and enjoy the soup around 7ish it was kind of thick. i threw the crock pot on high and added a cup of veg broth i had in the fridge. i let it go for another 15 minutes while i prepared a salad. it did not change the flavor of soup at all (good to know right).

this was honestly a great bowl of soup. it was smokey and yet sweet, delicious and savory.

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