Lentil Soup

I have been looking for a very flavorful lentil soup; so I searched all the available recipes and took the best (I think) from each. I forgot to get sausage; so I ended up with a non meat version using liquid smoke to impart the "sausage" flavor. Since I really wanted a depth of flavor with some "pop", I added a jalapeno, but this is certainly optional.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive olive

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced (use the leafy parts too)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon corriander

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

2 cups lentils cleaned

1 can chopped or crushed tomatoes

8 cups of liquid (I used 1 can beef broth; 1 can chicken broth; 1 cup v8 juice and 4 cups water)

1-2 tablespoons of liquid smoke

2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons of port wine

salt to taste

Cook all vegetables and garlic for about 5 minutes. Stir in all liquid, lentils and seasonings except liquid smoke, vinegar and port wine. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for at least an hour. Add the vinegar, liquid smoke and port wine and simmer for 30 minutes or until desired doneness. At this point, I used my imulsion blender and had a mixture of half pure and half whole lentil blend. Add salt to taste. I simmered for another 30 minutes. Depending on how thick or thin you like your soup, feel free to add more liquid (including water) after the initial hour of simmering.