You know how much I love slow cooking and crock pots, greens and sweet potatoes. Put this delicious recipe up to cook on Sunday, and you’ll be all set for days. Consider it your “standby dinner” in case you get stuck in traffic, or at the office, or in a turnstile or a revolving door, or between a rock and a hard place. Or stuck for an idea. Or just plain don’t feel like cooking when you get home.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry brown (or green) lentils
• 1 cup sweet white Vidalia onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 c. baby spinach or other dark leafy greens (washed & chopped)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 large sweet potatoes

Sort and rinse the lentils, and place in slow cooker. Add onion, celery, carrots, garlic, vegetable broth and bay leaves. Cook on high for 4 hours (yes, 4!) or low for 8. Remove bay leaves, add thyme, salt, black pepper and greens. Stir, and continue cooking on low for 30 minutes more.

Meanwhile, preheat a toaster oven or regular oven to 400F. Scrub sweet potatoes, pat dry, and prick in a few spots with a fork. Wrap in foil, place on middle rack, and bake 1 hour or until potatoes are soft. Unwrap carefully.

Slice sweet potatoes in half the long way, and dice in their skin (make a few crisscrosses up and down, right and left with a sharp knife). Scoop out each half into soup bowl. Divide soup evenly among four bowls, and enjoy! Serves 4.

Thank you to veggieprimer.com for a prior version of this recipe.