Now that fall is upon us, I become a soup aficionado. I love whipping up easy squeezy blends in a pot that warm your heart and your stomach on those crisp autumn evenings. I purchased some black lentils at the bulk food store in St. Clair Shores and was dying to try them out in something hearty, vegan, and delicious.
I started by boiling my black lentils for about 22 minutes, they’re tough and need slightly longer to cook than a green lentil. I’m definitely a fan of cooking lentils in SOMETHING. Vegetable stock, mushroom base, olive oil with spices, half of the lentil battle is getting those puppies to absorb flavor like little pearlized sponges. For this recipe I cooked them in Vegetable “Better than Bouillon “.
The amount of soup you want to make varies on the amount of lentils you use. I used about 1 cup of lentils for a batch that made 4-5 healthy soup servings.
I prefer my soups to have about 60%stock to 40% base however, you can adjust the portions to your liking.
While the lentils were cooking I roasted my tomatoes for the soup base! In addition to my campari tomatoes I added onions and garlic cloves as well as olive oil, salt, pepper, coriander, turmeric, paprika, and a little olive brine to my baking sheet so all the flavors would really marry together in the oven. I typically roast at 400-425 degrees and I go until the tomato skins have wrinkled and onions have begun to change color, 15-20 minutes on average.
After draining your lentils(with a spoon, leave the stock) and removing your roasted tomatoes from the oven, this is when it all comes together.
Blend all of your oven ingredients into a blender and then pour into your stock (careful, it’s hot!)
Then add half of your lentils back in, stick your immersion blender in and blend until pretty well integrated. If you do not have an immersion blender, then add the lentils in with your oven ingredients and a little stock to your blender before pouring back in the pot.
Add your remaining lentils, cook for 10 more minutes and there you go!
Smoky, rich, hearty, packed with protein.
I added on sliced tomatoes with Hawaiian black salt but the topping choices are endless. The best part about this soup is that it’s also a great sauce over rice, potatoes, quinoa, and more!
Enjoy!
Heirloomed 