Lentil Soup
This lentil soup is a really tasty warming winter soup. I use green lentils because they tend to retain their shape during the cooking process better than red lentils and they are higher in protein and fiber too.
I think lentils get a bit of a bad rap for being bland boring vegan food, but with the right spices and veggies they are absolutely delicious.
This recipe serves 6, it can be frozen after cooking for up to a month in an airtight container, defrost in the refrigerator for a day and then reheat.
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
2 teaspoons of dried thyme
2 teaspoons of dried oregano
2 bay leaves
2 carrots, finely diced
2 sticks of celery, finely diced
1 medium potato, finely diced
1 cup of green lentils
4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste
METHOD
Heat the olive oil over medium heat and cook the onion, garlic, thyme and oregano until fragrant.
Add the finely diced vegetables and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes until slightly softened and coated in the herbs.
Stir in the lentils and the chicken stock.
Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes until all of the vegetables and lentils are soft and most of the stock is absorbed. You will need to keep an eye on the stock level, and top it up if you think it is becoming too thick.
Season with salt and pepper
Serve with crusty bread a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of smoky paprika.
VARIATIONS
You can really add whatever veggies to this that you like, but I think this is the best combination.
This is a vegetarian recipe… in fact i am pretty sure it is suitable for vegans too. But if you like your meat it also tasted great with 3/4 cup of diced bacon thrown in with the onion.
If you have lots of leftovers you can boil off the rest of the stock until you are left with a very thick lentil mixture, add some curry powder, cayenne pepper and a dash of cream and use this as curried lentil pie filling. Spoon it into the pie dish, top with a trimmed sheet of puff pastry, use an egg wash and bake in a 200 degrees celcius pre heated oven until the pastry is puffed and golden.