A versatile soup showcasing the season's best vegetables! Be sure to use the highest-quality, organic ingredients available. Use homemade chicken broth if you have some in your freezer. This hearty soup is versatile, replace lentils with pearled barley. Easy to recreate as a vegetarian soup by replacing chicken with extra vegetables and replacing chicken broth with vegetable broth.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons Cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium Rutabaga (or turnip), peeled and chopped
• 1 medium Sweet onion, diced
• 3 medium Carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 ribs Celery (leafy tops removed), chopped
• 1/4 cup Lentils, rinsed in a strainer
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 2 whole Dried bay leaves
• 6 cups Homemade or all-natural low sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons Fresh dill (or 1 tablespoon dried)
• To taste Sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
• 2 teaspoons Dried thyme
• To taste Fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 whole Lemon, sliced thin
• 1 pound All-natural skinless, boneless chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces

Instructions

Sauté vegetables first to intensify flavor of soup. Place large pot (be sure to have a lid for the pot) on medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add oil and sauté onions for 5 minutes with a 2 pinches of salt which helps onions cook quicker. Add celery and sauté for 5 additional minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add garlic, be sure garlic does not brown because it will taste bitter. Sauté 2 minutes.

Add broth and turn heat to high. Stir in chicken, rutabaga, carrots and lentils; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low/simmer and add pepper to taste, bay leaves, dill, thyme and lemon slices. Cover pot with lid and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste soup and adjust seasonings to your liking, check lentils for tenderness. If lentils not yet tender, cook a few more minutes with lid on pot until lentils are done. Before serving, remove bay leaves and lemon slices.

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