Sunshine Soup

Are you suffering from the winter blues? It could be due to a lack of essential vitamins such as A, C & D. Boost your mood from the inside out by making this hardy soup recipe courtesy of Fatimah Ali at Healthy Southern Comforts.

Yellow Split Pea/Tomatoes with vegetables

Ingredients

3 cups yellow lentils, soaked for 3 hours and thoroughly rinsed

1/2 gallon spring or filtered water

12 vine-ripe tomatoes, skinned, seeded and quartered

1/4 cup fresh cilantro finely, chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1 head of garlic, coarsely chopped (however, more is better if you can tolerate it)

3 large red onions, finely diced

2 red peppers, diced

3 yellow peppers, roasted and cut into wedges

3 zucchini, diced in one-inch pieces

2 yellow squash, diced in one-inch pieces

5 sweet potatoes, skinned and cut into wedges

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

Tamari sauce to taste

a dash of cayenne pepper if you’re brave enough

1/2 cup virgin olive oil

1 very large jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

1 cup of vegetable broth

Directions

Rinse tomatoes and submerge in boiling water until skin lifts. Set aside to cool.

Add split peas to boiling spring water, and after 15 minutes, turn heat to low and cover.

In a wok, saute garlic and onions on high heat, then turn to low and cook three minutes until golden brown.

Add all of the remaining ingredients to the wok, starting with the fresh herbs and stir constantly until blended.

Add vegetable broth and cover on low for 1/2 hour.

Skin tomatoes and remove seeds, then quarter and add to pea soup along with spaghetti sauce.

Add vegetables and fresh herbs from wok to pea soup.

Add the rest of the vegetables and cook on very low heat for 3 hours.

Take 1/4 of the soup, blend it and return it to the pot.

Turn off heat and allow soup to rest for 15 minutes before serving with your choice of bread.