What goes into this red lentil veggie soup

This recipe takes as many of the healthiest (and most colorful) ingredients as possible and puts them together in one pot. From antioxidant-packed leek and garlic and fiber-filled celery and carrots to vitamin C-rich red bell pepper and lemon juice, the flavors work wonderfully together. And I'm being awesome by adding sweet potatoes, which turn into creamy-textured goodness. I like to crush my garlic in a mortar and pestle, as I find it makes it taste best.

Garlic crushed in a mortar and pestle for red lentil soup

All these ingredients are cooked with cumin and turmeric, filling your home with an exhilarating scent.

Vegetables cooking with cumin and turmeric in a soup pot

Then we add the star of the show: the protein-packed red lentils. No broth is needed. It all simmers with just water, creating the best house smells ever in just 20 minutes.

Red lentils simmering with vegetables in water

Then magic happens when the hand blender purees the soup right in the pot, transforming it into velvety heaven.

Hand blender pureeing red lentil veggie soup in the pot

A cozy, kid-approved soup

And there you have it: a big pot of this beautiful soup to detox and nourish your body. My toddler even loved it. He ate so much, then bragged about how big his belly got from eating "that yellow soup"!