Warm And Comforting Vegetarian Lentil Soup

• 1 cup small green lentils, rinsed and picked over
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large sweet onions, chopped fine
• 2 leeks, chopped, white and light green parts only
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 3 carrots, chopped fine
• 2 stalks celery, chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 14 ounce can tomatoes, broken up with your fingers, and including liquid
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 3-4 sprigs of thyme that you can remove later)
• 4 cups vegetable broth, plus more as needed
• up to a cup of water as needed
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 cup spinach, chard or collards, stemmed and roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar plus more for finishing
• more salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in Dutch oven. Add onions, leeks, celery, carrots, and kosher salt, and saute till onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute or so.
2. Stir in tomatoes and cook for another minute. Add lentils, potatoes, wine, vegetable stock and water, bay leaves, cayenne and thyme. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer.
3. Cook, covered, till lentils are soft and potatoes are cooked through. (You may need to add more water, wine or stock.) Stir in spinach and let it simmer till wilted. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Remove the bay leaves.
4. If you like, puree some of the soup (about 2 cups) in a blender or with an immersion blender to get a thick creamy consistency. Stir in vinegar. Taste and adjust seasonings.
5. Serve with extra vinegar, salt and pepper to use as desired.

green lentils, vegetable oil, sweet onions, leeks, garlic, carrots, stalks celery, kosher salt, cayenne, bay leaves, tomatoes, paprika, thyme, vegetable broth, water, white wine, potatoes, spinach, sherry, salt

Taken from food52.com/recipes/2304-warm-and-comforting-vegetarian-lentil-soup (may not work)