December 7, 2016
This might be the perfect meal!
There are an unlimited array of combinations and tastes when you think of
soup. And a fair bit of choices when it comes to bread as well. The fun is creating combinations that fulfill a hunger craving and a taste desire while being a nutritiously complete meal.
Preparing meals with a good protein balance can be super simple to do with soup and bread. A delicious lentil soup with carrots and kale sweetened with coconut milk, spiced with turmeric and paired with a hearty whole grain wheat bread is packed with protein, vitamins & minerals, fiber and taste!
Lentils, an edible pulse, are a great complex carbohydrate, high in fiber, both soluble and insoluble, and a great inexpensive protein source with less than 1 gram fat per serving. A 1 cup serving of cooked lentils provides almost 40% of RDA of iron and 20% Vitamin B-6. Included in a serving of lentils is 20% RDA of
potassium, an essential macromineral and a main blood mineral that regulates the water balance in the body and the acid-base balance in the blood. On the vitamin scene, lentils contain an almost 90% RDA of folate, a B vitamin critical in the formation of red and white blood cells and the conversion of carbohydrates into energy.
Adding vegetables to soups is a great way to maintain any water soluble vitamins that may typically be lost when the cooking water is drained. When kale and carrots are added to a lentil soup, the vitamin C content sours to over 200% of the RDA from a 100 gram serving of kale and 10% from the same serving size of carrots. The vitamin A contribution is a staggering 300% RDA from kale and over 500% from carrots!! WOW… hard to beat that resume!
When a hearty sprouted whole grain bread is the delicious companion to a hot lentil soup the 3:1 bean to grain ratio satisfies the complete protein requirement providing all essential amino acids. It is important to select breads that include the ‘whole grain’ in the ingredient list to be sure all the components of the kernel are intact and not lost in the damaging milling process.
A winning meal on all accounts is a hot bowl of lentil soup and a slice (or two) of a delicious grainy bread!
Yum 🙂 
