The other night, my boyfriend and I made a hearty, healthy vegan lentil and vegetable soup served over fluffy seasoned quinoa. It was delicious and perfect for the early June gloom we've been experiencing in May (I'll take gloomy weather over scorching summers any day). And since we used lentils that were already pre-cooked, it made the process a lot faster. Best of all, we cooked enough food for the both of us to last through most of the week!

Ingredients:

• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp of dried thyme
• 1 box of organic vegetable broth
• 1 28-oz. can of diced tomatoes, strained
• 3 ribbed stalks of celery, chopped
• 3/4 organic green bell pepper, diced
• 2 bags of Trader Joe’s Steamed Lentils
• Trader Joe's butternut squash ribbons, chopped
• 1 packet of Trader Joe's Organic Sprouted Tofu
• Olive oil

Instructions:

1. Add about 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil into a pot at medium heat, and then add garlic.
2. Add celery and butternut squash about 2 minutes after cooking garlic. Add salt and onion powder. Cook celery and squash for 5 minutes at medium heat.
3. Add the vegetable broth, strained diced tomatoes, diced bell pepper, bay leaf, and thyme, and bring it all to a boil. Then reduce to simmer and cover for 20 minutes (while quinoa is cooking).
4. Blend 1 bag of steamed lentils (we used a Ninja)
5. Add 1 cup of water to increase volume, 1 bag of lentils, blended lentils, and 1 packet of diced tofu. 
6. Bring to a boil again, and cover with a lid. Then let it simmer for another 10 minutes.

Serve in a bowl over quinoa. Let it stand for a couple minutes because I managed to burn my tongue. Once the heat subsides a little, dig in and enjoy!