• This vegetarian, anti-inflammatory soup is packed with vegetables and lentils.
  • It’s both comforting and nutritious, providing fiber, protein and anti-inflammatory micronutrients.
  • It’s quick, flexible, and meal-prep friendly—perfect for winter weeknights.

Regardless of your New Year’s resolution, January is not the time for salads. Especially if, like me, you live somewhere with a harsh, cold winter. Personally, I haven’t seen the temperature rise above 40 degrees since November, so the mere thought of digging into a bowl of cold greens is enough to give me the chills.

Despite wanting to hibernate, I know I can’t sustain myself on comfort food all winter long — no matter how much I would like to. After all the holiday activities have wrapped up, I want better-for-me meals that are full of nutrients to help combat inflammation, but still feel warm and comforting. Winter is the season of rest, after all! Thankfully, I came across this Lentil Vegetable Soup with Parmesan, an anti-inflammatory, vegetable-packed and cozy dish that can easily sustain me until spring. 

It’s Equal Parts Cozy and Nourishing

Finding dishes that feel like a warm hug and help you feel like your best self are hard to come by, so when I do stumble upon one, I like to keep it in my repertoire. This soup combines nutrient-dense foods that fit into an anti-inflammatory eating pattern, like Tuscan kale (a personal winter favorite) and protein-packed lentils. Plus, it is full of flavor thanks to the addition of a Parmesan rind. As an Italian-American, I know these cheese rinds are true flavor bombs and usually have a few in my fridge, just for this purpose. (Sometimes, I add them to tomato sauce too.) Letting one simmer in the broth adds a depth of flavor to the soup, making it seem as if it has stewed on the stovetop all afternoon, even though it’s ready in just 20 minutes.

Just one serving of this soup packs in 32 percent of your daily recommended fiber (9 grams), along with 17 grams of protein. This is thanks to the lentils and kale, which are both considered anti-inflammatory foods due in part to their fiber content. The fiber from these ingredients helps to slow digestion, which can help keep your blood sugar from spiking. Kale also contains essential vitamins with anti-inflammatory properties. One cup of Kale contains practically your entire daily requirement of vitamin K, and serves as a rich source of vitamins A and C.

It Comes Together Quickly 

This recipe is a low-lift part of my meal prep that helps keep me from ordering takeout. It is also reminiscent of minestrone, thanks to the canned diced tomatoes that are added to the broth. But it has fewer ingredients than my go-to minestrone recipe, and using lentils instead of beans means I can whip up this soup with a pantry staple that doesn’t require any soaking. Lentils are quick-cooking, usually becoming tender in just 15 to 20 minutes. That makes this soup easy to whip up on a weeknight, or even as a quick lunch. This week, I made the soup on a Sunday while hard-boiling eggs, shredding a rotisserie chicken, and chopping up some greens.

The best part? This soup came together in one pot. I recently moved to a new home that doesn’t have a dishwasher, so having fewer prep dishes to clean makes this recipe a keeper.  

It’s Substitution-Friendly

I am more likely to make a dish again if I’m able to adjust the recipe based on what I have on hand, and this soup was particularly forgiving. While I find the Parmesan rind adds umami flavor to the vegetarian soup, it is optional, and the soup is still plenty tasty without it. Even better, I was able to substitute a Pecorino Romano rind the last time I whipped this up, which made it feel upscale.

Substituting the kale for other greens works well, so I’ve found I can pull this soup together when I need to use up the last of a bag of spinach before it spoils. Escarole, a winter green that’s used in Italian Wedding Soup, is also a great swap — it just needs a few minutes longer to cook than kale or spinach does. When raw, escarole is bitter, but once braised in the soup, it takes on an almost buttery, earthy taste.  

While I don’t see myself whipping up a salad until it’s less frosty outside, this soup feels pretty close to one, thanks to the vegetables and lentils, all while keeping me cozy on cold winter days. I’ve saved some leftovers in my freezer too, so the next time I need some nourishing, vitamin-packed, anti-inflammatory goodness, I’ll just have to take out my soup pot.