I've only had lentil soup once, on a business trip in Seattle last October. I honestly don't remember much about it, except that I loved it (quite possibly because I was absolutely starving at the time). So, I really didn't have a starting point when I decided to make this crockpot lentil soup. Instead, I just made this recipe up, throwing a combination of things into the crockpot and hoping for the best. All things considered, this turned out quite well. I love lentils because they're little tiny pods with fantastic nutritional stats (check them out here). Next time I make lentil soup, I don't think I'll use my food processor to chop the veggies, as I prefer my soups a little chunkier. However, the flavor of this soup was great and paired with bagels made for a satisfying dinner!

-1 cup brown lentils

-4 stalks of celery

-4 carrots

-1 onion

-1/2 cup tomato paste

-2 cups chicken broth

-2 cups water

-1/2 tsp oregano

-1/2 tsp basil

-sprinkle of garlic powder

-2 dried bay leaves

1. Chop celery, carrots, and onion. Add to crockpot.

2. Add lentils, broth, water, tomato paste, seasonings, and bay leaves.

3. Cover and heat on low for 6-8 hours. (ours was on low for close to 9 hours while we were at work, and the top was a little charred when we returned...but it was fine once we stirred!)

**Ryan added a little bit of water to thin the soup shortly before we ate...you can do so if you prefer a thinner soup.