Happy New Year my friends!!! Hope you all had a fun, happy & healthy holiday! We had a great time hanging out at our house with friends and family in our PJs to ring in the New Year. We decided to play it by ear and the boys actually made it to midnight! Funny enough at 11:50 Ryan started to melt down but we made it! This Lentil & Beef Soup was part of my NYE menu.

 Supposedly lentils on NY represent prosperity so I figured, hey we could always use a little extra luck in that department! See the funny part about this soup, well I had intentions of using two types of lentils and also adding barley… well apparently the cashier at the store forgot to give me one of my bags and I didn’t notice until 2 days later. So, change of plans a little and it really came out delicious!!

Its hearty and so good for you with all the lentils, veg and beans! This soup was also the perfect way to use up the leftover New York Strip Roast from Christmas that I had frozen. You can use raw beef just the same in this recipe, I’d simply cook it a bit longer so the beef has time to be fall apart tender. By cooking longer you may need to add a bit more broth. You could also make this soup in a slow cooker, just toss all the ingredients in and set on low for anywhere 6-8 hours.

3-3 1/2 cups small diced beef (I used cooked leftover roast)

4 large carrots, peeled and sliced

1 large onion, diced

8 cloves garlic, sliced

4 celery stalks, diced

1 bay leaf

1 cup dried red lentils

1 cup dried navy beans

10 cups organic beef broth

olive oil

salt and pepper

Into a large pot, over medium heat, add enough oil to coat the bottom. In in the carrots, onion, garlic, bay leaf and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté until softened.

Add in the lentils and navy beans. Stir to coat. Add in the can of diced tomatoes, including the juice. Stir to combine and simmer for a few minutes so the flavors begin to meld.

Add in the beef and the broth. Lower the heat to medium low and simmer the soup with the lid on for 1 hour. Remove the lid and simmer for another 1 hour- 1 1/2 hours. The broth will reduce and the flavors will concentrate to extra yummy goodness. Taste for salt and pepper.