A soup to chase the cold away

It is cold and miserable outside: rain, rain, nothing but rain! And as if this wouldn't be misery enough I am trying hard to shake off the mother of all colds. So what better remedy is there than a nice hot  soup and better even, one that is fast and easy to prepare. Best: I had all ingredients in the pantry - and even fresh sage as that is the only plant surviving all year round in my kitchen garden. Plus sage is supposed to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties - perfect!

You start by finely slicing 3 garlic cloves, and also very finely chopping a handful of sage leaves. Wash and quarter 400g/two cups of cherry tomatoes, weigh 200g/1 1/2 cups of red lentils, open a medium (400g/14 oz) can of chopped tomatoes and prepare 1.5 l/ 6 cups of vegetable broth.
Sautée the garlic and cherry tomatoes for a few minutes in a splash of olive oil, add the chopped tomatoes, chopped sage and let bubble away for a few minutes. Add the lentils, the vegetable broth and let cook for about 10 to 15 minutes until the lentils are tender. Taste and season with black pepper and salt if necessary and serve with a sprinkling of either leftover sage or flat leaf parsley.
I really, really liked the very clean taste of the soup but next time will cook it with tiny little bits of pasta (orzo) as I didn't care too much about the texture of the red lentils. But best of all - my cold is much, much better!