We had unseasonal rains today. It is the weekend and it was raining. Over the last 6 days or so, we have had bits of rain but today was like the absolute, ultimate in rain. Why am I waxing eloquent on rain ? We get less than one day of rain per year in the desert and this year, it is an unexpected bonanza. The rain didn’t bring down the temperature much, so it was pleasantly comfortable.
So comfortable in fact, that my daughter wanted me to get her lentil soup from Shakespeare. I was hesitant to go out in the rain, so I asked her if homemade lentil soup would do and she said yes, if I let her make gluten free brownies for dessert after. I said ok.
Hana, one of my colleagues had a few months back sent me a recipe for an Arabic Shorma, she called it, which is tasty lentil soup.
Here’s how I made it
Ingredients
· 2 tablespoons olive oil
· 1 small onion, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup)
· 1 medium Potato potatoes, peeled and chopped
· 1 cup chopped carrots
· ¼ cup red lentils
· 1 teaspoon white pepper
· 1 teaspoon dried thyme
· ½ teaspoon cumin
· ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
· 5 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (preferably homemade)
· 2 tablespoons lemon juice
· 1 tablespoon butter or, for vegan, olive oil
· 2 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise
Instructions
1. Place a large pot over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and chopped onions. Saute for 3-5 minutes until soft.
2. Add potatoes, carrots, lentils, cumin and cayenne and cook for another minute, stirring continuously to prevent sticking. Pour in broth, add lemon juice, and cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
3. Remove soup from heat, allow to cool slightly. Puree in a blender, then return to pot to reheat. Serve hot and garnish with mushroom bits and green onions.
This is the website Hana used :
A big pot of hot lentil soup for less than half a cup of lentils- very good value indeed. In Shakespeare, we would have had to pay at least 12 $ for a bowl of soup. The soup was as tasty as the one from the shop. We each had two bowls each and didn’t want any main course for dinner, not that there was any.:)
It was just starters and dessert. The brownies got a trifle burnt and the daughter was a little disappointed but I was pleased as I could not eat even a bit of it.
But the soup was the highlight of the day.
