Good vegetarian lentil soup recipe?

I’ve never made lentil soup without tomatoes- so I’m not sure how it will taste but here goes:

Ingredients

* 1 onion, chopped
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 2 carrots, diced
* 2 stalks celery, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 bay leaf
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* 2 cups dry lentils
* 8 cups water
* 2 tablespoons vinegar
* salt to taste
* ground black pepper to taste

1. In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery; cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in garlic, bay leaf, oregano, and basil; cook for 2 minutes.
2. Stir in lentils, and add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for at least 1 hour. After the lentils are cooked, stir in vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper (you don’t want to add salt earlier because it may harder the lentils).

This makes a LOT of soup. If you soak your lentils overnight (which you should) it won’t take quite as long to cook. Also, you can cut the recipe in half if you’d like if you want to serve less people.