by Kelly J. Larson

Last month one of my daughter’s best friends mentioned her mom had an emergency appendectomy, so we took dinner over when she got home from the hospital.

Her daughter told me she doesn’t eat meat and likes anything with a lot of vegetables. I concocted this veggie and lentil soup and she went crazy over it. She even gives the soup credit for her speedy recovery and sent me the sweetest note ever.

I’m glad I sent her a text message to tell her how I made it since I was winging and tossing ingredients randomly into the Pampered Chef Quick Cooker. I made it again following my instructions and came up with this recipe.

Vegetable Lentil Soup

• 1/3 cup butter

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

• 1 red bell pepper, chopped

• 1 cup baby carrots, chopped

• 15 ounces petite diced tomatoes

• 1 pound uncooked lentils, rinsed

• 3 teaspoons salt

• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1-1/2 teaspoons pepper

• 1 teaspoon curry

• 1 teaspoon cumin

• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 10 cups water

• 1 cup heavy cream

In Quick Cooker or Instant Pot, add butter and onions, set on sear. As onions begin to sear, continue prepping the remaining vegetables, adding as they are chopped. Add tomatoes, seasoning, lentils and water then pressure cook until done and everything is tender. If using the Pampered Chef Quick Cooker, set it to the stew mode.

Release pressure, remove lid, add heavy cream and additional water if needed. Stir together well, then serve.

Optional toppings can be sour cream, corn tortilla chips and bacon.