Lentil, Grains and Other Bean Veggie Soup

In a sauce pan I put some EVOO, added in some chopped celery and let it saute!
Then added in 2 small cloves of garlic, chopped and 1 shallot chopped. Let that saute up some!
Chopped some mushrooms and added them in.
Chopped carrots and 1 small potato and added that into the mixture. Diced a little bit of red bell pepper and added that in (optional). Add in a large bay leaf (be sure to remove before serving) and a pinch of dried parsley (or fresh, which is better) and some dried Thyme! Ground some peppercorns in. Optional is come Kosher salt.
I added in some Vegetable stock.
Now I washed and put in some dried lentils (1 cup), 1/4 cup of Red Mill Vegi Soup Mix (optional)
and 1/4 cup of Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend (which has couscous, orzo, baby garbanzo beans and red quinoa in it) ALSO: OPTIONAL (and you can certainly substitute!!!
I covered and let simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes. I blended up 2 more cloves of garlic with 1/2 can of White Kidney Beans, added some EVOO inside and some water so that it would blend easily. Once blended to just about a liquid sauce looking mixture, I added that into the soup. This not only adds EXTRA fiber but it also makes it taste a whole lot better, it's almost a creamy texture!!! (that is also optional but I doubt you will regret it:) I used the other half of can of bean and did the same process for another recipe (see recipe above for Mustard Greens).

Looks good, right? It's SO healthy for you, VERY filling and in my opinion is best served with a GREAT loaf of your favorite bread (I won't tell you which to use but I enjoy the pheasant bread with whole, roasted garlic cloves inside~ yum!!!! ~enjoy eating well~