Roasted Garlic Vegetable Stew with Red Lentils & Tomatoes (2024)

4.56 from 153 votes

Course: Main, Soup

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: Easy Lentil Recipes, Healthy Lentil Recipes, Roasted Vegetable Soup

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Author: Bronwyn

For the Roasted Vegetables:

• 4 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 medium cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced 3/4 inch cubes
• 2 red bell peppers, seeds/stem removed, chopped
• 1 head garlic

For the Stew Base:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 28 oz canned fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup red lentils
• 4 tbsp tomato paste
• 6 cups kale, de-veined and torn into bite size pieces
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

For the Roasted Vegetables:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Place the roasting vegetables on the tray (except the garlic), drizzle with olive oil and toss well with a large spoon or your hands ensuring that all the veggies are evenly coated.

• Slice the pointed end of the garlic bulb off exposing the garlic cloves. Drizzle with 1 tsp of oil. Wrap tightly with foil and place on the baking tray with the vegetables. Bake for 30-40 minutes, tossing every 15 minutes or so and checking the garlic at 25 minutes to make sure it doesn't burn or dry out.

For the Stew Base:

• In a large pot over medium heat, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil for 3 or 4 minutes until the onion is softened. Add the oregano, basil, thyme, canned tomatoes, vegetable broth and red lentils. Turn the heat up to high until the stew comes to a boil, lower the heat, cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes or until the lentils are cooked, stirring occasionally to prevent lentils from sticking to the pot.

• Squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skins into a high-powered blender. Add tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, about 1/2 of the roasted vegetables, and ladle in about 2 cups of the soup. Blend on high until smooth. Pour this mixture back into the soup pot with the other half of the roasted vegetables. Over medium heat, stir the kale into the soup and cook about a minute until it's just wilted and bright green. Enjoy!