Black Bean Soup with Squash

For lunch with the Intensive Program of Growth today I made Black Bean Soup with Squash. I wanted to serve something hearty, hot and delicious, as well as having many valuable nutrients and virtually no not-so-valuable nutrients. People seemed to enjoy this.

Black Bean Soup with Squash

2 cups dried black beans, rinsed, soaked overnight, and rinsed again
1/2 cup red lentils
1 onion
2 delicata squashes, seeded and diced
1 red garnet yam, diced
2 fat organic carrots
1 package of spinach
a few leaves of fresh basil and cilantro
Seasonings to taste: sea salt, smoke flavoring, ground rosemary, cumin, coriander, dill, basil, oregano; 2 cloves garlic, sliced.
Would have been good if I had it on hand: frozen corn, and fresh turmeric root, grated.

Dice onion and place in pressure cooker with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to carmelize while you prepare other ingredients. Dice everything, put it all into the cooker, add beans and red lentils and seasonings, cover with water, put on lid, and cook on high for 10 minutes, allow natural pressure release. Stir in spinach and more fresh cilantro and basil. Serve. Now that you've enjoyed this, it's a Whole Foods Plant Based Diet selection. AKA vegan.

We had this with crusty french bread, sliced sharp white cheddar, and macaroni salad, small mandarin oranges, chips, tea or 100% grape juice. You could also try toasted rye bread with this. [For vegan meal, omit the macaroni salad and cheddar, and make the bread whole grain.]