Moroccan Lentil Soup

My husband and I have been talking about wanting to make something with lentils lately, as it's been a while and they are so good for you (and cheap!)  One cup of lentils has 18g of protein, <1g of fat, 16g of fiber, and 4mg of sodium.  Read more about lentils' nutritional information on Livestrong [here].

Last Sunday my husband scoured the internet for a recipe with lentils and came across the blog A Year of Slow Cooking.  It documents the adventures of a woman determined to use her crockpot every day in 2008.  She later compiled these recipes into a book, Make it Fast, Cook it Slow.

My husband decided on the recipe Moroccan Lentil Soup.

Here is a picture from our crock pot:

It's pretty healthy as this is the list of ingredients:

--1 cup dried lentils
--1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
--1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
--1 onion, chopped
--2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
--1/2 cup chopped celery
--1/2 cup chopped carrots
--28 oz can of diced tomatoes (and juice)
--4 cups vegetable broth
--1 1/2 tsp garam masala
--1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
--1/2 tsp cumin
--1/4 tsp nutmeg
--1/4 tsp cinnamon
--1 inch ginger, peeled and grated

I think our version was even a little healthier as we started with dry pinto and garbanzo beans (not canned, so there was no sodium).  The diced tomatoes were canned, but low sodium.  While dry beans take a little longer because you have to soak or bring them to a boil and let them simmer for a while - I like that they have a slightly firmer texture than their canned counterparts.

Dished up and served with a slice of multi-grain bread from the little bakery around the corner from us:

Crockpots are fabulous because this gave us approximately 8 meals between the two of us.  For me, it was Sunday's dinner, Monday's lunch, Tuesday's dinner, and Thursday's lunch. 

Does anyone have a fabulous crock pot recipe to share?

Any suggestions for other ways to prepare lentils/what to eat with lentils?