Tips for a slow cooker veggie soup & lentils for newbies please!

[toomanyshoes]

I want to make a veggie soup in the slow cooker but I want it to stay chunky not be overly mushy. So how long should I cook it for?

I also want to add lentils or chickpeas or something like that lol Which to use, when to put it in and how long to cook it? I usually give cover the veg with stock/water/V8 juice and thats fine but if using lentils do I need to add more?

[Snowy Love]

I made soup on the weekend, I soaked the soup mix (lentils, barley & split peas) overnight, then cooked it on the stove in fresh water with an onion & poured that over my vegies and added some stock, garlic & paprika. I precook the onion 'cause I find it still has a raw taste if SC'ed without pre frying or boiling. I cut the veg fairly chunky. I added chicken so cooked it 8 hrs, I'm guessing you wouldn't need to cook as long for vego, but I dunno.

Oh and make sure you keep your thumb out of the way when you slice the veggies, I sliced my thumb on the weekend too. :P