You know the thing I have the most trouble with during winter? Those gray, dark days. Give me sunshine and 30°, and I’m fine. But 40° and gray sends me straight to bed.
You know the cure for those gray winter days? Soup. Specifically, this soup: Golden Spiced Lentil Soup. Studded with red lentils and carrot and bright with turmeric, this super simple soup recipe is like sunshine in a bowl.
The recipe came to me from Kate Zaidan of Dean’s Mediterranean Imports at Findlay Market, who shared it during a soup-centric event at Cincinnati’s historic Lloyd Library and Museum. I was part of a panel discussion about soup — why it’s awesome, how to make it, how to share it. The night of the panel was the height of the invading Polar Vortex, so soup was the perfect topic of conversation. Two days later, I was in Kate’s store to pick up red lentils, turmeric and cumin.
I’m sharing Kate’s recipe here, with admiration and a few tweaks. Best part: It’s stupid-easy. As with all soups known to human kind, this one gets better a day or two later, so make a batch the day before you plan to enjoy it.
Golden Lentil Soup with Turmeric Recipe
serves 6
1 cup red lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, grated on the large holes of a box grater
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
5–6 cups vegetable broth
Juice of 1/2 lemon
For serving: minced parsley, lowfat plain Greek yogurt, lemon-infused olive oil
In a heavy soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers; reduce heat to medium-low and add onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden and translucent but not brown, about 7 minutes. Add carrot and garlic and cook, stirring, 2 minutes more. Add cumin and turmeric and cook 1 minute, stirring, until spices are fragrant. Add salt. Transfer vegetables to a bowl. In the same pot, bring 5 cups of vegetable broth to a boil; add lentils, reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Return vegetables and lemon juice to the pot and simmer 10 minutes. Add more broth if needed to thin soup. Let cool slightly. Use an immersion blender to roughly puree soup. Serve with minced parsley and a dollop of plain yogurt or drizzle of lemon olive oil.
