Lentil Soup with Ground Beef and Brown Rice

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef use beef with less than 10% fat for South Beach Diet
• 2 teaspoons olive oil or more, depending on your pan
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery finely
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic or garlic puree, or less if you don't like garlic as much as I do
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 cups homemade beef stock or use 2 cans beef broth, low sodium recommended
• 2 cups homemade chicken stock or use 1 can chicken broth, low sodium recommended
• 2 cups water plus more as needed
• 2/3 cup brown lentils
• 1/2 cup carrots finely chopped
• 1/2 cup brown rice I used Uncle Ben's whole grain brown rice, which I really like
• black ground pepper
• salt
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar optional, but it adds a lot of flavor

Nutrition

• Calories : 320 calories
• Carbohydrate : 34 grams
• Cholesterol : 50 milligrams
• Fat : 7 grams
• Fiber : 8 grams
• Protein : 29 grams
• SaturatedFat : 2 grams
• Sodium : 630 milligrams
• Sugar : 6 grams