Hearty Lentil Soup
When the weather is chilly, it’s soup time for us at home! I learned about this quick lentil recipe (30 min or less) around early pandemic and been making it ever since.
I’ve never tried adding meat to it but for sure that would add more umami so feel free to customize the recipe below to your liking. As we all know, lentil is low-cost high-protein meat substitute thus it’s ideal for those who are trying to cut down on their meat intake OR eliminating meat entirely from their diet. I know for sure that will never be the case for me. I’m Filipino and we love our meats! Ha ha
It is also rich in fiber, folate, potassium and iron. So there you go - eat your lentils!
Fun facts worth sharing:
Lentil beans are considered one of the world's oldest health foods dating back to 8,000 BC in the Middle East
In terms of beans protein ranking, lentils are No. 2 while soybeans garner top honors!
Let’s get cooking!
2 Tips and Tricks For You!
Hate chopping like me? Buy the already chopped veggies mix (see pic above)
Soak the cup of lentil in water for 30 minutes (speeds up the cooking) before you start cooking
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin (can be optional!)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon tomato paste (optional) but preferred (at least for me)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup lentil (use either red or green)
mirepoix (diced celery, diced onion and diced carrots)
1 cup H20
4 cups chicken broth (preferred for me) or veggie broth (if you want to keep it vegetarian)
Heat your pan, add olive oil
Add all the veggies, garlic , coriander, cumin, turmeric, salt, black pepper, tomato paste into the pan. Stir all together and sautee for 4 minutes. Let all the aromatics blend!
Add H20, chicken broth and lentil and bring to a boil
Simmer for 20 minutes, check if it’s tender to your liking, simmer more if needed
Enjoy! You’ll have leftovers as well as you can have 6-8 servings from this recipe.
Optional: Best served with creme fraiche/sour cream as topping or add 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice!
