Bonnie: Rachel Berliner turned to the owner of a Himalayan restaurant for this recipe to expand Amy’s hearty soup offerings. According to Amy’s, the Berliner family often enjoyed a bowl of the Indian dal (AKA lentil soup) — free of charge — while waiting at the restaurant in her California neighborhood. The restaurateur actually showed the folks at Amy’s how to make the Indian Dal Golden Lentil Soup. It’s a delicious winner!

And we thought the perfect time to share this with you is in the cold winter month of January, known mostly to the people in the industry as “National Soup Month.”

Amy’s Indian Dal Golden Lentil soup is tasty, mildly spiced and chock full of organic vegetables, yellow split peas and red lentils, providing a hefty seven grams of good-for-you fiber, plus vitamins and minerals. My only issue is it has a bit too much sodium — 690 milligrams per cupful — especially if you eat the entire can, which is quite easy to do.

Just be sure to eat lower sodium foods the rest of the day. Another suggestion would be to serve this over a cup of brown or basmati rice with added chunks of chicken as an entrée.

Bryan: Do you know Amy’s from the supermarket? Sound familiar? Well, if you’re feeling like you’ve heard that name before, it’s probably because you have. Amy’s is the nation’s leading natural frozen food brand… you know, those frozen dinners you buy but don’t feel bad about eating! And it all started out in 1987, at a company with a house and a barn for a headquarters.

“Organic” was not yet the buzz word it is today when Amy’s began its quest for organic good eating. At that time supermarkets weren’t even offering frozen dinners in any capacity (let alone organic), for vegetarians. Amy’s first product, to feed what it believed was an underserved market, was a vegetable potpie. The product was an instant success.

Since then, Amy’s has introduced almost 90 different frozen meals to your local supermarket’s shelves. Choices include pizzas, sandwiches, potpies, entrées and even entire meals to feed a group of friends or family. In 1999, Amy’s finally went beyond the freezer aisle to introduce a line of soups, beans, chili, pasta sauces and salsas. Its pantry additions are continuing to grow in popularity, so we though it was time to try some soup!

Amy’s is not your run of the mill, cheapie condensed soup. This is gourmet-canned, so it’s likely to be a bit more pricey than your Campbell’s Tomato, but don’t fret: It’s worth the extra pennies!

This is a true meal in a bowl. Amy’s soup has excellent texture and thickness, with plenty of seasoning. The ingredients are vegan and organic; it’s like eating vitamin stew. I mean, this is how your grandmother’s recipe ingredient list would read: lentils, organic split peas, organic carrots, organic tomato puree, shallots, organic extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and spices. There are no preservatives in this soup and only 150 calories. What’s not to love? Lentils maybe? I bet you can’t even remember what one tastes like! Take a moment to remember with Amy’s.

Eric: Soup seems like the least likely of categories to tout as having one of the “best bites” — especially a product as simple as Amy’s, which consists only of beans, vegetables, spices and water. Now, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to create a soup; simply boil water and add ingredients. However, a soup that doubles as a nutritious, tasty, low-calorie enriching meal is a different story, and Amy’s Indian Dal Golden Lentil soup is a testament to such a story.

To consider the product just as a soup is almost insulting to its full potential — it’s a meal in a can that can easily be used to enrich a bowl of rice or to fill an enchilada. Mmm, mmm good has found itself some tough competition!