Recipe Review

Make a Meal Out of Creamy French Lentils with Mushrooms and Kale

published Oct 9, 2018
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(Image credit: The First Mess)

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Do you want to know my absolute favorite comfort food? (Warning: It’s not pretty.) Heat up a can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup in a saucepan, toast a piece of spongy white bread, ladle the thick, gravy-esqe soup over the toast, and proceed to eat the whole thing with a fork and knife, sopping up every last drop. Does it taste yummy? Yes. Is it the most nourishing meal on the planet? Not always.

This recipe for creamy French lentils with mushrooms and kale, served with a side of crusty bread, is what I imagine my cream of mushroom soup on toast would look like if it moved out, went to college, majored in Romance Languages, and came home vegan. And with that, I’m ready to dig my lentils out of the pantry and give this the good old college try.

First, boil lentils until tender, drain, and set aside. In a soup pot, cook shallots, add mushrooms, and then garlic and thyme. De-glaze the pot with white wine and tamari before adding back in the lentils, along with vegetable broth, and your choice of unsweetened plant-based milk. Bring the whole shebang to a boil.

Transfer half of this soup to a blender and purée until completely smooth. Add it back into the pot and it will be so creamy — like, “cream of mushroom soup creamy,” without the can. Add in sliced kale (for health) and serve with toast, obviously.

→ Get the Recipe: Creamy French Lentils with Mushrooms and Kale from The First Mess

(Image credit: Maria Siriano)

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