Red Lentil and Brown Rice Soup

“Fall is my time. I am most radiant and full of energy when the leaves are falling and there is a ghost of change in the air.”

While going through my “I Love Fall” board on Pinterest the quote above from picturequotes.com caught my eye. This morning I couldn’t have honestly said it fit my feelings but this afternoon, as I look out the window at the mellow sunlight dancing through the yellow and green leaves on the trees outside, it most definitely describes how I feel.

The smell of the Red Lentil and Brown Rice Soup cooking on the stove certainly helps too. I got the original recipe from Heidi over at 101cookbooks.com and it was a hit from the start. The only thing I could never figure out was how she got brown rice to cook in 30 minutes in an uncovered pot. You can check out the original recipe here.

Through the years I’ve made a few tweaks to the recipe. One main change is using precooked brown rice – which makes this a great recipe for using things up. I also like to throw in some carrots if I have some laying around but feel free to leave those out if you prefer.

We are trying to cut back our salt intake so I tend to add additional seasonings instead of adding more salt. Two of my go-to seasoning mixes are Mrs. Dash Table Blend and McKay’s Chicken Style Instant Broth. (Links provided are to Amazon if you’re not familiar with these.) Feel free to substituent with your favorite all purpose seasonings or just use salt.

My new addition to the recipe this fall is pineapple sage. My husband was skeptical about the change so I started with a scant teaspoon to see how everyone would like it. Pineapple sage is a fairly mild flavored herb so a teaspoon didn’t change the flavor much. I’ll have to add more next time. 🙂

Print Recipe

Red Lentil and Brown Rice Soup Recipe

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 2-3 shallots, chopped
• 1/2 cup carrots, sliced or chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 7 cups good tasting vegetable broth
• 1 1/3 cups red lentils, sorted and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups prepared brown rice
• 1 teaspoon pineapple sage, chopped
• 1-2 teaspoons McKay's Chicken Style Instant Broth (optional)
• 1/3 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Table Blend (optional)
• salt, to taste

Instructions

1

Add olive oil, onion, shallots, carrots, and red pepper flakes (if using) to a large pot over medium-low heat.

2

Cook stirring occasionally until they have started to brown and caramelize a bit.

3

Stir in the broth and bring to a boil over medium heat.

4

Add the lentils, brown rice, and pineapple sage.

5

Simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils have softened and started to come apart. (Add more water/broth in small amounts as needed while cooking.)