
What’s your favorite cookbook?
I own a ton of cookbooks, but if I had to choose the one I use the most often in my kitchen, it’s Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. This is the book that has notes scrawled all over the pages and food spatters on the most frequently used recipes. If you’re a vegetarian and you own a slow cooker, you should really buy this book!

The thing I love about it is that the recipes are mostly unfussy. You might have to saute some ingredients before putting them in the crockpot, but other than that, things are pretty uncomplicated, which is what I like in a cookbook. I want realistic, everyday meals, you know? Something I can use, not just something with lots of pretty pictures of recipes that are such a pain to assemble, I will probably never make them.

When I was working full-time and going to library school full-time (yeah, that happened), I worked my way through a good half of the recipes in this cookbook. They were easy and I could let them cook in the crockpot all day and dinner would be ready when we got home. And without fail, they were all winners. The best part was that there were always leftovers, so we could have them for dinner the next day or freeze them. The only thing easier than a slow cooker meal is a leftover meal! Or stopping at Chipotle on the way home from work. (Yeah, that happened too.)

This recipe is adapted from a kale and lentil soup that’s in Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. It’s not super fancy, it’s not a show-stopper, but it’s a delicious, hearty soup for a chilly fall evening. I replaced the kale with chard and used a lot more than the original recipe calls for because we love Swiss chard and if I was buying a whole bunch anyway, why not use it? I even threw in the stems, so nothing goes to waste. I also added some Yukon potatoes to make this even more filling, but sweet potatoes or butternut squash would probably be just as tasty.
A hearty fall soup adapted from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker's Lentil Soup with Ribbons of Kale.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 celery stalk, sliced
- 1 large carrot, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large bunch Swiss chard, leaves torn into bite-sized pieces and stems sliced
- 1 c. dried brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
- 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 6 c. vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp. soy sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and stems from Swiss chard. Cover and cook until softened, about 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add cooked vegetable mixture, lentils, potatoes, broth, and soy sauce in a 4- to 6-cup slow cooker. Stir to combine, cover, and cook on low heat for 8 hours.
- Just before soup is finished cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place reserved chard leaves in boiling water and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain well and stir into soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
There are affiliate links in this post, so if you click through and buy Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, I’ll get a few cents out of the deal. I promise not to spend it all in one place!
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That cookbook pretty much stays on my kitchen counter all fall/winter. I cook something from it at least once a week. I’ve made the recipes so many times that I wish she’d put out another one so I could make something new!
It is great, isn’t it? It’s definitely my most-used cookbook!
I’m so up for slow cooker soups right now! Yum!
Looks amazing! Cooking it this weekend.
I hope you like it!
SOUP!! This looks lovely–I’m sharing it on my FB page for unofficial Soup Week!
Thank you for sharing this, Sommer!
Oh yes, that does look darn hearty and good!
It’s homey and comforting! I love it.
My fav cookbook is the vintage copy of The Joy of Cooking I took from my Grandmother place after she passed. It still has her notes in the margins. Love it so much.
ANd I’m a huge soup fan, this looks glorious.
My mom has that one too. I think she must have gotten it when she got married, because I remember it being completely yellowed and covered with food spatters. That’s how you know it’s a good cookbook.
I just told my husband a few weeks ago that I wanted to get another slow cooker. This recipe has gotten me in gear to go get one!
We just got a new one last year. Our old slow cooker burned everything! I waited for a good sale and then pounced.
I love, love the idea of Swiss chard in a soup! Would definitely try this recipe. Gorgeous photos!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it if you make it!
This looks sooo good!
Looks great, Kiersten!
I need to buy a slow cooker! My girlfriends say it’s a great thing.
You will love it! You can make so many things in it and it’s so nice to just throw everything in there and have it do the work.
I never had a slow cooker but I would love one for the upcoming winter. That soup looks so warm and delicious.
You should get one–they really come in handy! You’d be surprised at how many things you can make in them too. My Thanksgiving dessert is made in the slow cooker!
I never can get enough soup recipes – this looks fantastic, and I love using my slow cooker!
This sounds like just the kind of hearty and healthy soup you would need after a long day of work! I’ve never owned or used a slow cooker – to me, it’s just one more thing to have to do in the morning before leaving the house, but I guess the trade-off would be worth it if you don’t have time to cook when you get home!
If you’re an early riser, it works well, but if you’re the type that’s always running late, it’s a little bit harder.
I’m thumbing through Mastering the Art of French Cooking at the moment and love every bit of it that I’ve seen so far! I love slow cooker soups like this – and they’re definitely perfect for the fall/winter season =)
French cooking is really intimidating to me! It seems so precise and fussy. Perhaps I should read that book too.
It shouldn’t scare you! Once you get the basic technique down, you realize that it’s like riding a bike =)
This looks great, Jenny! Hope you are well; sending you huge hugs! xo
I think you have the wrong blogger! I’m Kiersten.
This looks good. I don’t recall ever eating chard. I’ll have to try this out.
I like it more than spinach because it has a little more flavor. It can be on the bitter side, but if you parboil it first, it mellows out some.
i already bought cooked lentils. i wonder if i could use those. maybe cook it on low for a shorter time?
With cooked lentils, I would probably just make this on the stovetop. I think in a slow cooker, the lentils might get mushy.
Do you think it would be okay to cook the veggies the night before and then start the slow cooker in the morning?
I haven’t done it with this particular soup, but I’ve done that with a lot of other slow cooker recipes and I’ve never had any issues with it!