Purple Lentil Soup

Serves maybe 8 if you have a side dish. 6 if it's a one-pot meal.

Ingredients

• 1 yellow onion
• olive oil (regular for cooking, extra virgin for garnish)
• 3 stalks celery
• 1 carrot
• 2 cups lentils (green, or a mix green and red. If using both green and red lentils, cook the red ones separately, since they'll cook much faster)
• vegetable stock
• 1 large purple sweet potato
• 1 large zucchino
• a bunch of swiss chard (it cooks down)
• 10 or so leaves fresh lavender
• 10 inches or so fresh oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• a splash of red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp red wine
• black pepper
• 2 tsp salt

Procedure

1. Sauté diced onion in olive oil in a large pot. When it starts to brown, add carrots and celery. Salt and pepper.
2. After a couple minutes, add the lentils and water or stock, and bring to a boil.
3. Add the sweet potato, cubed.
4. Add the other seasonings: lavender, oregano, bay, vinegar, and wine. Chop the oregano and lavender finely.
5. When the lentils have about 15 minutes left to cook, add the zucchini.
6. Separate the chard stems from the leaves. Dice and sauté the stems separately.
7. When the lentils have about 5 minutes left to cook, add the precooked chard stems and the leaves, cut crosswise into ribbons. By this time, the potato should be disintegrating slightly, thickening the soup.