Baby, it’s cold outside. I know I sound like a broken record, but we are still snow-less here at Lake Tahoe. If you ask me, the lack of snow hardly makes the freezing temperatures worthwhile.
I like winter for the simple fact that I am able to justify serving soup for dinner for days on end. I love soup. In fact, I could live on it year-round. It’s the ultimate comfort food, as far as I am concerned. There’s nothing better than a bowl full of hearty and belly warming soup after coming in from the cold.
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Turkish Spinach And Lentil Soup
Adapted from Sundays At Moosewood Restaurant
Ingredients:
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
5 cups water
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 red onions, roughly chopped
4 medium carrots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 Tablespoon Mediterranean oregano
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, depending how spicy you want it
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
6 to 8 cups No-Chicken or vegetable broth (depending how thick you like it)
1 cup quinoa, soaked for 15 minutes and rinsed
1 16-ounce package frozen spinach, thawed
Directions:
Rinse the lentils and bring to a boil in the water. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 40 minutes. Drain, rinse and set aside.
In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onions and carrots until the onions just begin to soften. Add the garlic, oregano, rosemary, cumin, cayenne, sea salt and bay leaves. Cook for a few minutes, but don’t allow the garlic to brown.
Meanwhile, begin soaking the quinoa in water.
Add the parsley and the tomatoes; stir and cook a few minutes. Then stir in the tomato paste until blended.
Add the broth, the lentils and the drained quinoa to the tomato mixture and lower the heat to medium-low. Cover the pot and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the quinoa is cooked.
Add the spinach and cook another five minutes or so until the soup is heated throughout.
Serve with a side salad and crusty bread.
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I hear ya. We *just* got our first snowstorm yesterday, and up until then it was just cold without anything to show for it. Unpleasant! Now, though, it finally feels like winter… the perfect opportunity to try your soup! My boyfriend claims to dislike lentils, but I might work on him with this.
Jealous of the snow! I think all men claim to dislike lentils. J did. Then I made him a “meatloaf” with lentils in it and he was sold. You can bring him around – I have faith!
It just started to get cold here. Not cold enough for snow, but still. Getting all sweaty in my winder jacket started to get old. BUt lentils, they never get old! This sounds like a really tasty soup.
I’m with you. I could eat lentils almost every day. They’re so versatile. The great thing is, they’re cheap, too!
made this last night – even Ryan liked it! we’re finally getting some light snow today after living on the ice planet Hoth for the past 1.5 months.
Yaaaahhh! That’s quite a compliment! Really, Leavenworth isn’t snowed in yet? The weather this year is just plain weird. J loved your Star Wars reference. I didn’t get it; he had to explain it to me. Doh!
It’s actually snowing here today…this sounds perfect for a cold, snowy day; lentils are so satisfying. I don’t really like snow myself, but I know I’ll like this.
It’s snowing on the west side? Yikes, that’s never a good thing. Nobody knows how to drive in the snow there. I’m not much better, though. But, I fit in well with the tourists from the bay area that can’t drive in it, either!
I enjoy lentils year-round, and this reminds me that it’s been awhile since I’ve enjoyed! I appreciate the good recipe! Debra
Thank you! I’m not sure why I don’t eat them more often; lentils are nutritional powerhouses. Btw, you have a lovely blog and I will be visiting it again. Thanks for stopping by!
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I really like the sound of this soup! I’m always on the lookout for different soup recipes using lentils. It’s not really soup weather over in my neck of the woods at the moment but I’m bookmarking this to try in a few months time.
Yeah, sure: rub it in!