Great Soup Recipe

Last night was cold and wet, so I cooked up a pot of red lentil & vegetable soup which I adapted from Dr. John Tickell's The Great Australian Diet Recipe Book. Basically, you pour a litre of vegetable stock into a pot, add a cup of red lentils, a chopped red onion, a clove of crushed garlic, and bring to the boil. Then add a variety of diced vegetables - I used potatoes, carrots, celery, corn kernels cut from a fresh cob of corn, red capsicum, button mushrooms, zucchini, green beans and a tin of crushed Italian tomatoes. (The recipe also suggests chopped spinach and leeks, but I didn't have any). Cover and simmer gently for about 45 minutes (stirring every 15 mins.) until everything is cooked. Add chopped fresh parsley, oregano and basil, salt & pepper to taste, then simmer for another few minutes. Serve with shaved parmesan and a loaf of hot, crunchy, wholemeal bread. Delicious! And very healthy!