hearty lentil soup

Today I played gardener, handy(wo)man, cleaner, laundry-lady, interior (re)decorator, and yogi. Come 6:30pm however, I just didn’t have the energy to add grocery-shopper or gourmet chef to that list!

I didn’t eat much all day – about 8 bananas, a dozen medjool dates, and a load of water, so definitely had an appetite after yoga. I also felt like something warm, so for those pure raw foodies out there, this one is cooked; and for those of you who don’t eat legumes (which is usually me, btw!), this has lentils. But for those who are eating low-fat and/or whole-food, plant-based (wfpb) vegan, this is totally yummy!

I am reserving the right to come back and comment on how the digestive system takes to the lentils though… I’m a little nervous :)

Before we get started, I two confessions… I used some pre-packaged goods to make this tonight! I usually make everything from scratch but for some reason, I had a random collection of things in the pantry that I could use for this recipe. And this is a knock-off inspired by Lindsay Nixon’s lentil soup in Everyday Happy Herbivore which I got for Christmas. I didn’t have all the ingredients and used a lot more lentils and vegetables. I also didn’t measure out the spices, so I will use Linday’s suggestions…

Ingredients

• 1 x small red onion, diced
• 4 x cloves garlic, minced
• 32oz vegetable stock – I always make my own vegetable stock… except for tonight! If you’re buying it, always get organic, always buy in a tetra-pack not a can, and always buy the one with the lowest sodium levels.
• Lentils – measurements here are a little tricky as I had 1lb of pre-cooked lentils from Trader Joe’s in the fridge so I used that. If you use uncooked lentils it would probably be 1-1.5 cups…
• Tomatoes – again, measurements are tricky as I had a jar of whole tomatoes handy (1.5lb whole + juice) – apparently you should never buy tins of food as the “linings of tin cans contain BPA, a synthetic estrogen linked to reproductive problems, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. The acidity in tomatoes causes BPA to leach into food”, taken from a great article on the 7 foods experts won’t eat. You could also used a similar weight of diced tomatoes, or use 3-4 fresh ones.
• 5 x little carrots – I had cute little ones I just sliced, but if you have larger ones use 1 and dice it into small pieces
• 1 tsp grated ginger – microplanes are the best things to use for this
• 1 tsp paprika 
• 1 tsp  cumin
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• Pink himalyan salt to taste

Instructions

• Line a large pot with water and saute onion and garlic over high heat until the water has absorbed
• Add all other ingredients except the salt (and except the lentils if you’re using pre-cooked ones)
• Bring to boil and reduce to a low heat and cook for 15 minutes (if you used pre-cooked lentils, add them after 10 minutes and cook for 5 more)
• Add salt to taste
• Cover, turn the heat off, and leave for 5-10 minutes to let the flavors combine
• Enjoy!

Although I would suggest not enjoying too much at once… my eyes were bigger than my belly and an hour later, I’m feeling very full :)

xx

Guide: vegan | whole food, plant based | gluten-free | nut-free | sugar-free | soy-free