Hearty Spinach & Two Lentil Soup

I baked chicken last night and I like to use the leftover bones to make soup the next day. So today I made lentil soup from the chicken stock I cooked up. I am calling it 'two' lentil soup because I love mixing the small pink lentils with the bigger brown ones. With all the good vegetables and protein-packed lentils in this soup, it is incredibly satisfying. I begin by cooking the bones in 2-4 quarts of water for 2 or more hours. Decide how much soup you want leftover and add the amount of water accordingly. I based the ingredient amounts off of using 3 quarts of water. The soup is a perfect balance between watery and thick, if you like it at either end of the spectrum, add more or less water (or beans!).

Strain the bones out of the soup water after a minimum of 2 hours on medium boil. Add these ingredients:

1 1/2 cup brown lentils
1 cup small pink lentils
2 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves

Now chop up these ingredients and add them after the lentils have cooked for 15-20 minutes:

5 stalks of celery, chopped
5 carrots, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, put through a garlic press
1 onion chopped

Cook above ingredients until done to your liking, make sure the lentils are fully cooked! It takes about 1 hour to cook after you add the lentils). Now add these ingredients: (The spinach gets added to the soup after you have turned off the heat. By the time you serve the soup and eat it, the spinach will be soft and will also retain its spectacular color)

2 TBS tamari or soy sauce
2-4 cups spinach, chopped

You can serve this soup as the one and only dish or have some crusty bread on the side to dip into the lentils. If you have guests, make a salad too.