LEMONY LENTIL AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

 

A favourite soup of mine and one of the most favourite soups from the recipe section in the Washington Post is their Greek lentil and spinach soup with lemon. The first time I made it I thought wow, this is a really good tasting soup. I did make it with a few modifications. In raving about the soup, I got some requests to blog it so that others could enjoy it. 

If I have time and I am thinking ahead, I like to soak the lentils beforehand. You don’t need to soak lentils but I find soaking them ahead of using them in the soup doesn’t require me to add more water to thin the soup after making it, especially after sitting in a storage container in the fridge. I will try to soak the lentils overnight in a large container with water. After soaking them I will drain and rinse them in a colander.

Hope you enjoy this soup as much as I and the DH do.

INGREDIENTS:

10 ounces or 1.25 cups brown or large green lentils, rinsed and picked over

7 to 8 cups chicken, vegetable broth or water

1/2 tsp ground coriander seed

1 tsp ground cumin 

1 tsp dried oregano

2 medium Yukon gold, russet or red potatoes, diced 

5 ounces baby spinach, chopped

1 small butternut squash peeled, seeded and diced

1 cup carrots, chopped (optional)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 ribs celery, with leaves, chopped 

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 lemons

DIRECTIONS:

In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, combine the lentils, stock or water, coriander, cumin and oregano. Bring to a boil, with the lid on, then reduce the heat to simmer for about 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender. 

Add the potatoes, spinach and butternut squash, increase the heat until it starts to boil and reduce heat to a simmer with the lid partially on. Cook another 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes and squash are tender.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion, and cook, stirring, until it starts to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the celery and garlic and cook, stirring often, until they soften, in about 3 minutes. Add the mixture to the soup, deglazing the skillet with a little soup liquid and adding the deglaze contents back to the soup pot. Add the salt and pepper, taste, and add more if needed.

Thinly slice the lemons as they will be placed on top of the served soup in the individual bowls. 

Just before serving, stir the lemon juice into the soup. Serve the soup hot, with a lemon slice floating atop each bowl. Makes about 8 servings.

Adapted from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2020/03/08/this-lentil-soup-is-so-good-one-nurse-has-eaten-it-for-lunch-every-workday-for-17-years/

RED LENTIL CARROT SOUP

Even though the warmer weather has started, I still like to make soup for lunches. This lentil carrot soup has a wonderful flavour with curry powder and ginger added to it. One could have also added cumin to the soup but I didn't. The apple adds some sweetness to the taste. I used fresh ginger as I have some on hand. I didn't add any parsley or cilantro as a garnish based on pure laziness. I added a can of light coconut milk. 

The soup is lighter in colour than how it looks in the photo. The soup was so good the DH had two bowls. 

INGREDIENTS:

1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp fresh minced ginger or 1 tsp powdered dry ginger
1 cup red lentils, rinsed
2 large size carrots, peeled, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored, chopped
5 - 6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

1 cup of coconut or almond milk
chopped parsley or cilantro as a garnish 

DRIECTIONS:

Using the Stove:
Heat the oil in a soup pot to high on the stove. Add the onions, reduce the heat to medium and sauté for five minutes. Stir the onions so that they don't stick or burn. 

Add the curry powder and ginger and sauté for another minute and stir. Add the rest of the ingredients except the coconut milk.  

Cover the pot with a lid and heat to high. Once it boils, reduce the heat to low or simmer and cook for 45 to 60 minutes until all of the vegetables are soft and the lentils are cooked.

Using an immersion blender puree the soup. You can also transfer the soup to a regular blender and puree it. If doing that you can add it back to the pot once pureed. Add the coconut milk, stir and add more salt and or pepper to taste. Garnish the soup bowls with parsley or cilantro. Serves five to six.

Using the Electric Pressure Cooker: 

Choose the sauté feature (high) on the electric pressure cooker. Add the oil and once it is hot, add the onions and sauté for five minutes. Stir the onions so that they don't stick or burn. 

Add the curry powder and ginger and sauté for another minute and stir. Cancel/stop the sauté feature. 

Add the rest of the ingredients except the coconut milk. Close the lid of the pressure cooker, select the pressure cooker button and cook for 15 minutes on medium high. I like to cook soups with beans for at least 15 minutes. Some cooks use less time. I choose automatic pressure release instead of manual. If using a manual release where it vents gradually, you could probably cook it for closer to 10 minutes than 15. 

Once the pressure is released, open the lid and stir the soup. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup. You can also transfer the soup to a regular blender and puree it. If doing that you can add it back to the pot once pureed. Add the coconut milk, stir and add more salt and or pepper to taste. Garnish the soup bowls with parsley or cilantro. Serves five to six.

Modified from kitchen treaty.com

RED LENTIL SOUP

Ready to eat.

Several weeks ago I saw this recipe for red lentil soup from the Moosewood Restaurant Favorites cookbook. I marked it and thought it would be great to make after I had enough of eating turkey soup over the Christmas season. Moosewood Restaurant has produced a number of great cookbooks and I have collected two of them so far. I made a few modifications to the original recipe. In the pantry or freezer, I have frozen tomatoes, diced tomatoes in the can and garden canned tomatoes. I decided to use a 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes and I drained the juice out of the can before adding the tomatoes to the soup mixture as I thought a 28 full can would be too much.

The taste of the soup after cooking in the pressure cooker was wonderful and I look forward to consuming this over the next number of days. 

Soup cooling in the container from the electric pressure cooker.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large potato, chopped
2 medium carrots, diced 
1/2 coloured pepper, diced
1 tsp dried powdered ginger or 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground turmeric 
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander 
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes or a 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes 
1 1/2 cups red lentils
6 to 7 cups water, chicken or vegetable broth

2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped 
salt and pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS:

Electric Pressure Cooker:

Using the sauté function, add the oil, heat it until hot and add the onion, garlic, potato and carrot. Stir every few minutes and after five minutes add the diced pepper and spices. Sauté for another three to four minutes. Turn the sauté feature off and add the water/broth, tomatoes, lentil and salt and pepper. Set the pressure cooker to cook for 15 minutes. Once the pressure is released and you can open the lid, add the cilantro and lemon juice and stir. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Makes 6 to 8 servings depending on the size of the soup bowl. If you find the soup too thick the following day in the storage container, add a bit of water. 

Stove Top:

Add the oil to a large soup pot, turn the burner to high and when hot, add the onion, potato and carrot.  Reduce heat to medium and sauté for five minutes and stir every few minutes. Add diced pepper and spices and continue to sauté for another three to four minutes. Add the water/broth, tomatoes, lentils and salt and pepper. Increase the heat to high, cover the pot with a lid until it starts to boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook for an hour. Add the cilantro and lemon juice, stir and if needed, add more salt and pepper. Makes 6 to 8 servings depending on the size of the soup bowl. If you find the soup too thick the following day in the storage container, add a bit of water. 

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Favorites