Ever since the holidays, I have found myself flipping through the Plenty and Jerusalem cookbooks and ooohhing and aaaahhhing over the beautiful, healthy recipes. Randomly, over the weekend, a friend made the most hearty, comforting, delicious soup from the same (brilliant) chef, Yotam Ottolenghi. I had to make a batch for myself. The soup is vegan, wholesome, rich, savory, and very Moroccan-esque. Definitely worth the effort in the kitchen.
Ingredients:
* 2 cups split red lentils (a typical bag of lentils)
* 10 cups of cold water
* 2 medium red onions
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* a bunch of Swiss chard (I used rainbow chard — mixture of red and green)
* a bunch of cilantro leaves
* 2 tsp ground cumin
* 1 tsp cinnamon
* 1 tbsp coriander seeds
* 3 garlic cloves, crushed
* 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
* salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
* Place the rinsed lentils in a large pot with water, bringing it to boil and then simmer for 35 minutes or until soft. Skim off any scum that rises to the surface during cooking. (looks like foam from an ocean — but you don’t want that).
* Slice the red onions (peeled obvi). With the olive oil in a pan, saute the onions until they are soft and somewhat translucent.
* Meanwhile, remove and discard the large stems from the Swiss chard. Wash and rinse the leaves thoroughly, then chop them roughly. Do the same with the cilantro.
* Mix the cooked onions, chard leaves and chopped coriander into the lentil soup and season with the cumin, cinnamon and some salt and pepper to taste.
* In a pestle and mortar, crush the coriander seeds and garlic together. Melt the butter gently in a small saucepan over a medium heat, add the garlic and coriander seeds and fry for 2 minutes.
* Then, stir this into the soup, remove the pot from the stove and cover with a lid.
* Finally, blend in vitamix until smooth. Then serve. Voila!
So delicious and packed with lots of greens! Hooray! Enjoy! Hope you have a great weekend! I am off to run 17 miles — wish me luck.
good looking winter soup.. have a great weekend everyone!
perfect for winter.
Looks better pre-blended!
ummmm…….either way delicious. but i love everything blended!
any tips for a cilantro substitution? i am one of those people who hates cilantro. i am so trying this soup though! the white bean kale recipe you posted was so delicious.
You can’t taste the cilantro! promise! try it with it!!!! seriously !