Start by boiling a large pot of water. After it boils, add lentils and cook for 15 minutes before draining and rinsing them well.
While the lentils are cooking, sauté onion and minced garlic in olive oil over low heat until the onions are translucent.
Add diced carrots, water, and vegan broth and let it simmer for about 10 minutes until the carrots are tender.
Add the cooked, drained, and rinsed lentils to the soup pot and simmer for about 5 more minutes.
While the soup is simmering, get the kale ready to add to the soup. To do this, pour 1 tbsp olive oil and a sprinkle of salt over clean kale. Using your hands, rub it and break it into small pieces until it turns dark and shiny.
Add the massaged kale to the pot of soup and simmer for about 5 more minutes.
Turn off the heat and add 1 1/2 cups sour cream to the pot of soup and stir well or serve the soup with sour cream and lemon wedges on the side.
Notes
You can sub spinach instead of kale. Just omit massaging the spinach and add it at the end of cooking instead of 5 minutes before the end.
Kale holds up better in freezing and reheating than spinach does.
If not using the Not Chick'n broth, you can use vegetable broth instead of water and omit the extra salt.