Slow Cooker Chicken and Red Lentil Soup

Do you watch Saturday Night Live? I love it. I’ve had an obsession since high school. I will admit, I no longer stay up that late, but I do religiously catch it the next day on Hulu or DVR. The point of the SNL reference is this; do you remember the segment on The Weekend Update with Seth and Amy called “Really?” Well, I gave Mother Nature a big “REALLY?” this morning when I woke up and looked out the window. Seriously, I’m so incredibly over this fricking snow. I’m not sure how much longer I can take it. I also can’t handle another school snow day.

Since, it’s freezing out, and there is snow (grrr) on the ground, I decided to make a warm, stick to your ribs, kind of soup. I realize that the cold weather will eventually fade, and my soup making days will be over until next year. I may as well do it while I can. I knew I wanted to make a lentil soup because earlier in the winter I experimented a little with them and finally perfected a chicken lentil soup. I usually get the green lentils, but this time my daughter was at the store (it was probably a snow day!) and in an effort to get her away from the cookies, I distracted her by asking her to help me decide on what kind of lentils to get. She chose the red. So, there I was, with red lentils, wondering how they’d hold up in the slow cooker. Well, I’m please to say, they did spectacular. Now, I will say, they no longer resemble lentils. But, they gave this soup an excellent flavor and thickness that just warms you right up. I also made it with chicken thighs, where I usually use chicken breasts, so I’m sure that helped too. Sometimes, the secret to clean eating, and not going broke, is getting what’s on sale, which was the case with the chicken thighs.

This is another super simple slow cooker recipe. I hope you’ll give it a try. It’s very tasty and all you have to do is throw everything in and wait. Enjoy!

 Local Ingredient: Basil and thyme from my window sill herb garden.