Lentil Soup


 Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 onion
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 large carrot
  • 2 ribs celery
  • 2 cups dried lentils
  • 1 large can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
  • 5 cups (1 tetra pack) vegetable stock
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • Salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes to taste
Special Equipment: Immersion blender

Instructions:
  1. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a sauce pan on medium heat
  2. Chop 1 onion, 1 carrot, 2 ribs celery, and mince 4 cloves garlic
  3. Add garlic and onion to heated pan and cook until fragrant and the onion begins to turn translucent (about 5 min)
  4. Add carrot and celery and cook for about 10 min
  5. Add 1 can crushed tomatoes, 5 cups (1 tetra pack) veg broth, 2 cups dried lentils, 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp paprika, and 1/2 tsp thyme
  6. Turn heat up and bring to a simmer, then turn heat down, cover and let simmer about 40 min
  7. Briefly use an immersion blender to thicken the soup but make sure to keep it chunky
  8. Add 2 cups water (or to desired consistency), 2 tbsp lemon juice, salt, pepper, and red chili flakes
Yield: Enough to feed two adults with lots of leftovers. Big pot of soup

Source: Modified, but inspired by https://www.recipetineats.com/lentil-soup/#wprm-recipe-container-20178 and https://cookieandkate.com/best-lentil-soup-recipe/#tasty-recipes-23764-jump-target

Description:

One of my old favourite foods was fried rice, because I considered it the perfect cross section of affordability, sustainability, flavour, ease of creation, and nutrition. I later realized how carb intensive rice is an it lost some nutritional value (I still make it with long grain brown rice sometimes). I am now determined to make lentil soup serve the function that fried rice used to.

In a weird way it's kind of a patriotic dish, since Canada is the world's biggest supplier of lentils, producing 3,233,980 tons annually beating out the second largest supplier, India, with 1,055,536 tons. The province of Saskatchewan produces 95% of Canada's lentils.

Once I started cutting down on carbs, I was disappointed that so many sustainable and affordable foods, such as flour, rice and potatoes became less accessible, but lentils help fill that void.

I was surprised at how much the lentils absorbed and expanded. I was expecting something much thinner, but it turned out to be a very hearty soup, even after blending and adding water. It was my first time using an immersion blender (I had that as a piece of special equipment for the butternut squash soup but Lee-Anne made that one).

We had a goal of eating more vegetarian meals this year. We haven't done too well at sticking to a schedule, but we're definitely doing it more often than last year, and lentil soup is a really good veg option.

I didn't bother with the bay leaves which were suggested in at least one of the sourced recipes, as I find them pointless

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fried Rice

Image
  Ingredients: 1 cup rice 2 cups water Veg oil 2 eggs 4 cloves (1 tbsp & 1 tsp) garlic Ginger to preference 1 onion 1 lb protein (chicken, pork, beef, tofu) Vegetable mix (suggestions: cabbage, carrots, broccoli/cauliflower, celery, snap/snow peas, mushrooms. Even premade frozen veg mix would work) Sauces (suggestions: any combination of teriyaki, hoisin, sriracha, sesame oil, sweet chili Thai, soy, honey garlic) Instructions: Heat oil at a low temp in wok/skillet/pan (I've got a wok, will use as default term from hereon out) Dice 1 onion, mince ginger and garlic. Keep separate from rest of vegetables Prepare vegetable mix if using fresh. Keep in separate bowl Dice protein if using cuts Prepare rice. I've got a rice cooker, so I put 1 cup rice and 2 cups water, set it to cook and let it go until it defaults to the warm setting. If using a pot, add the rice and water and cook at a low temperature until the rice has absorbed all the water. You can do this while cooking the ve...
Read more

Falafel

Image
  Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups dried chickpeas 1/4 cup olive oil 2 cloves garlic 1 small cooking onion 1 tbsp cumin 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1 cup flat leaf parsley 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tbsp lemon juice Equipment: Food processor Large bowl Baking sheet Oven Instructions: In a large bowl, soak 1 1/4 cups chickpeas with about 4 inches of water for 24 hours Preheat oven to 375 F Brush large, rimmed baking sheet with olive oil Coarsely chop 2 cloves garlic, 1 cooking onion, 1 cup flat leaf parsley In food processor, add soaked chickpeas, chopped garlic, onion, and parsley, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tbsp cumin, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp lemon juice Pulse until mix is chopped and mixed but not puree'd Form mixture in 1 1/2" patties and place onto baking sheet. Depending on how big your baking sheet is, you might have to do 2 batches. If you do a second, you might have to oil the pan again Brush tops of patties with olive oil Bake for...
Read more

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Image
  Ingredients: 3 cups milk 3 cups veg or chicken stock 1 onion 1 rib celery 1 carrot 2 potatoes 2 cups broccoli florettes, or 2 heads 1/4 cup cornstarch 1/4 cup water Salt and pepper to taste Directions: Chop 1 onion, 1 rib celery, 1 carrot, 2 potatoes, 2 heads broccoli Add 3 cups milk and 3 cups stock to sauce pan and set to medium-low for 20 min Put vegetables in saucepan and let simmer for another 20 min With an immersion blender, blend until vegetables are integrated with the broth In a separate bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup cornstarch and 1/4 cup water Add cornstarch slurry to soup, whisking until thickened Add salt and pepper to taste Let simmer for another 5 min, then take off heat Yield: About 4 bowls of soup Source: Partially derived from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMLws382Mpg&t=534s Description: This is a quick and easy cream of broccoli soup. Originally, I was hoping to make something similar to my broccoli cheddar entry, but with less cheese. I tried to re...
Read more