I love my crockpot – and I love it when I find a recipe that I can use in my crockpot that both my youngest daughter and I enjoy.  I lucked out recently when I picked up the January 2015 issue of Oxygen Magazine.  I haven’t picked up an issue of Oxygen fitness magazine in a VERY long time, but I saw one recently and decided to buy it – just for old times.

There was an article about healthy crockpot recipes, so I dove right in.  The first one listed was for “Bacon + Tomato Red Lentil Soup” and sounded good, not withstanding the fact that I had never heard of a “red lentil.”  Lentils were lentils to me – we didn’t eat them much, and I thought they were all the same.  I still do, but that’s beside the point.

I knew I had the ingredients in the cupboard, and it was a rainy Saturday, so I thought “Why not?”  Here is what I put together, after tweaking the recipe slightly.

My version of the recipe:

• One cup dry lentils
• 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes
• 3-4 cups chicken or veggie broth/stock/water
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• Dash of black pepper
• Chopped celery, carrots and onions – optional, and to your own taste
• Bacon or chopped ham – optional, and to your own taste

The actual recipe called for 6 strips of bacon, but since I didn’t have that I used a little bit of leftover ham instead.  Not too much, just for some extra flavor.  Oh, and I included onions in the recipe above because next time I intend to use some – I didn’t have any when I tried this recipe, but think they would be a nice addition.  I added the carrots and celery because I had them in the fridge and they needed to be used.   I originally only used about 2 cups of broth, but about halfway through the cooking decided I needed to use more.

This recipe was very quick and very easy, and it tasted delicious.

Now remember – this recipe is downsized, since I am cooking for just the two of us.  Even so, it still made about 4 servings; so if you are cooking for a large group, you may need to play with the amounts a little bit.

I looked for a link to the original recipe from the magazine on the Oxygen website, but couldn’t find it – so here is the original recipe:

• 6 slices thick cut bacon, diced and cooked
• 2 cups dry red lentils
• 5-6 cups low sodium vegetable broth or water
• 1 14-oz. can low sodium diced tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Cook in crockpot for 8-10 hours on low heat, or 4-5 hours on high heat.  Makes 6 servings.

Want another great crockpot recipe?  Check out this one:  Crockpot Taco Soup Recipe