Sweet Summer Vegetable Soup

I have to say that I am not the biggest planner.  Usually when you see a recipe on my blog it is not because I planned it out.  My recipes come based more on a whim, something in season, or a spark of creativity.  Yesterday while I was at the store I bought some Turkish organic split red lentils.  These lentils are a beautiful orange color and I bought them out of curiosity.
My brother spent the day with me yesterday and we had a great time.  I drove him up to North Georgia for a hiking trip.  We hiked to a beautiful waterfall, ate a packed lunch and solved the problems of the world in one deep conversation.  My brother is 21 years old and I am very close to him.  He is also very passionate about eating healthy food and a lot of our conversations involve food and healthy lifestyle ideas.  I told him about my idea to make soup for dinner and he was very excited.  On our drive back from the hiking trip we saw a sign at a small farm that said "Corn for Sale".  So, we decided to pull up and buy some corn.  We got 12 husks for $3.  The guy told us that he mostly grows it for his family but has a lot extra.  He said the corn is not genetically modified (most corn now comes from genetically modified seeds) so I was very excited.  I love the way corn tastes.  The corn was also a great addition to my delicious soup we made for dinner.  I picked basil from the back yard, and yellow squash from a friend who shared it with us.  There were a lot of local ingredients in this soup.  The end result for the soup you ask?  It was delicious!  It was sweet and savory!  Yum!  I can't wait to make it again and again!  Do you have a family member that you can connect with on the topic of eating healthy?  

Sweet Summer Vegetable Soup:

Ingredients:

2 cups of turkish organic red lentils

1 japanese sweet potato

1 carrot

1 onion
 1/4 cup of olive oil

3 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp of minced ginger

handful of basil leaves chopped finely

2 husks of corn dehusked

1 squash

cilantro to garnish
Directions:

Soak the lentils for one hour.  In a large pot combine all of the ingredients.  Make sure you have chopped all of the vegetables finely.  Add 6 cups of water to the pot and increase the temperature until the soup boils.  After it reaches a boiling point decrease the temperature so the soup is simmering.  Allow the soup to simmer with a lid on the pot for 30 - 45 minutes. 
 When the potatoes and carrots are soft it is done.  Enjoy!