Last year I read The Blue Zones, a book that challenged my beliefs around food and other aspects of building a healthy and worthy life. Dan Buettner describes the life and diet of the places where most people live over 100 (Okinawa, Ogliastra, Loma Linda, Ikaria, Nicoya). I loved the stories of each place and the description of their life, but couldn’t help but wonder how to implement the common aspects of why people in those parts of the world live over 100. What spoke most to me was that they were all on plant based diets (enjoying animal products as condiments for their meals and not the main guest on their plates), drank coffee & wine, had a spiritual practice, moved every day, and how they valued their communities (family, friends, neighbours). I feel like a whole post about this book and how to make your own Blue Zone will be written soon on the blog.

At the end of the book, there are a couple of recipes from each zone that you can cook at home. The ingredients for these recipes are simple and you can find them in your local store (or some speciality store if you want to cook the Asian recipes). That’s how I found the recipe for my favorite soup, traditional from on my favorite countries - Greece! This lentil soup is so fresh and easy to make that you can enjoy it every season of the year to up your veggies intake and cozy up with a nice bowl of soup. After sauteing the onions in a bit of olive oil, add all the other ingredients and bring everything to simmer for 45minutes. I cannot emphasize more how simple is to make this soup!

I hope you’ll try it and enjoy it at least as much as we did!

LENTIL SOUP - a Blue Zone recipe

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Sauté the chopped onion in the 1 tbs of olive oil.

• When it is translucent add all the other ingredients.

• Let it boil for 45min.

• Serve it with plenty of chopped scallions or shredded kale.

• That’s it.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup of lentils

•  2 carrots 

• 3 red potatoes 

• 3 tomatoes 

• 1 onion

• 2 garlic cloves

• 6 cups veggie broth (or warm water mixed with bouillon)

• 1 tbs olive oil

• salt and pepper to taste

• optional: chopped spring onions or shredded kale to sprinkle on top