This is a great combination of flavors for any time of year. You can control how hardy you make this soup by how much liquid you add. Your family will love it and you can stick to your Gluten Free diet.

Ingredients
Serves 8

1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
2 carrots peeled and chopped
1 pound potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 + 1/4 cup red lentils (picked over and rinsed)
3 cups water
2 garlic cloves, thinly minced
4 to 6 fresh thyme sprigs
salt and pepper to taste
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 pound green beans, fresh or frozen, cut into bite-sized pieces
additional water as required
salt to taste
3-4 cups fresh spinach

Directions

Saute onion in your soup pot with salt and pepper. I use a large stainless steel pot for all my soups. Add the garlic and saute a little more – slowly adding the rinsed lentils, carrots, celery and potato cubes Saute these ingredients about 2 minutes. Add the water and thyme sprigs, cook until lentils are tender. This can take anywhere from half an hour to an hour. When the lentils are tender stir in the tomatoes and green beans adding more water to the soup as needed. Taste you soup to see if you need to add any more seasonings. Bring soup to a boil stirring constantly then back the heat of to simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir in the spinach and serve with chick pea flat bread.

This takes the chill out of the air any time of the year, serve it with chick pea flat bread and watch everyone smile.

This is a variation of Socca “flat bread”. It is a great easy to make flat bread recipe – people will think you spent all day in the kitchen.

Ingredients
serves 6 to 8

2 cups chickpea flour (more if needed)
1 1/2 cups water (more if needed)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or Italian parsley
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1 dash salt (optional)
1 dash pepper (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Directions

In a large bowl whisk the flour and spices with ½ cup of water at a time. Slowly incorporating the mixture together using as much water as needed to bring the mixture to the consistency of heavy cream.. Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes. Get an 8 x 10 Pyrex (glass) dish greased and lined with parchment paper. Pour in the batter and bake for 15 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the bread is firm to the touch in the center. Let cool; cut and serve with butter, olive oil or just plain.

You can keep this flat bread covered in the refrigerator for 4 days. Reheat as needed in a 250 degree oven.