Creamy Red Lentils & Vegetable Soup

Hi Foodies! How is it going today and how are you coping with winter? Right now as I am writing to you it’s raining heavily and I’m freezing. Yes, I’m definitely wearing these chunky thick socks, a pair of leggings and an oversized sweater. I prefer to stay indoors in this type of weather.

How about you? Do you dare to venture out in the cold or are you staying in?

During winter, I’m often looking for comfort food that’s going to keep me warm. When it’s windy and raining like today, I make sure that I’m still eating healthy because I don’t want to end up with a cold or a very bad flu. Hence I’m making sure to have plenty of vegetables. 

One of my favourite winter meals is a big bowl of vegetable soup (sometimes 2 bowls) with a slice of bread and some sauteed tofu or chicken or fish. 

How about you? What’s your favourite comfort food for winter?

I know what you’re thinking. Vegetable soup? No way! I’m going to prove you wrong with this recipe.

One of the reasons I love vegetable soup is because I add plenty of herbs and I can prepare it in advance for a few days. Soup is an easy way to ensure you’re having your vegetables. It’s quick, time-saving and (yes I’m putting emphasis on this word) delicious. 

How about you? Do you like having soup?

When I was a kid, I used to be very picky when it came to vegetables and one of the ways my mom would convince me to eat them would be to have a nice bowl of soup. Since then, I have soup at least twice a week. 

Today I’m going to teach you how to prepare a tasty red lentils & vegetable soup and I bet that you’ll be cooking this very often once you try it once. Whether you are trying to eat healthy or introduce your children to more vegetables and pulses, you can’t go wrong with a generous bowl of soup like this one. 

In this recipe, I’ll be using turnip, carrots and tomatoes and various herbs. I’ll be honest with you; I don’t like the taste of turnips at all but I know that it has so many nutrients. However when I combine it with other vegetables, spices and herbs, the flavours blend together. If someone else served me that bowl, I would never guess that there are turnips in there.  If you’re serving this to children, you will notice that a little dash of cooking cream can make a huge difference (mommy’s hack to trick me into eating veggies and it worked!). 

Try this creamy soup and let me know how you like it and with what you are serving it to make it a complete meal. I’d love to see some pictures as well. Until then, keep yourself warm and cozy because we have some more days of cold weather to go through until summer returns and hopefully this time we’ll get to enjoy it fully. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chow chow (cut into cubes)
• 1 cup turnip (cut into cubes)
• 1 cup carrots (cut into cubes)
• 1 cup tomatoes (diced)
• ½ cup red lentils (soak them for 30 minutes)
• ½ cup celery (finely cut)
• ½ cup parsley (finely cut)
• ½ cup leek (finely cut)
• ½ cup onions (finely cut)
• 1 tablespoon grated garlic
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 cups water
• salt & pepper to taste

Preparation

1. In a pressure cooker or heavy bottom pan, saute the onions, garlic and ginger in some olive oil.
2. Add the tomatoes 
3. Once the tomatoes are cooked, add the vegetables and lentils and stir.
4. Add the parsley, celery and leek and 2 cups of water
5. Add salt and pepper to taste
6. Cover your cooker or pan and let the soup boil until all the vegetables are soft and well cooked. For a pressure cooker, wait for 2 whistles. 
7. Once ready, let the mixture cool slightly and puree. I use a hand blender to do that but you can transfer everything to your blender and puree it before pouring it back to your pressure cooker.
8. Place the soup back to boil and add the 3 remaining cups of water.
9. Season with salt and pepper if necessary
10. Once ready, garnish with some parsley