Carrot and lentil soup

I am going through a bit of a lentil phase at the moment, and have been creating all things lentilly. Lentils are a classic soup base and here I have opted for two different types.

Orange and yellow was the generally look I was going for.... enter the carrots! When I first made this soup in a 4-portion batch as I usually do, I served it without the corn- hence the photos are ‘corn-less’, but the next day as I filled a flask of soup for a lunch, the leftover tub of sweet corn in the fridge caught my eye and on a whim I added it to the mix. It was even better this way, the juicy sweet kernels of corn really add to both the texture and flavour of the soup. So whilst I have added it as an optional ingredient in the recipe, I would encourage you to do so!

You can find more soup recipes to warm you up  here!

For those who saw and commented on this picture on my Instagram and Facebook a few days ago... I will try and recreate the recipe for you and post it very soon!

Recipe: Carrot lentil soup

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

• 1 large onion
• 1 tbs coconut oil or red palm oil (I used red palm oil to keep an extra orangey colouring)
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 tsp dried cumin seeds
• ½ tsp dried coriander (or fresh if preferred)
• 3 grated carrots
• 1 cup dried red lentils
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• ½ cup green lentils
• 3 ½ cups veg stock (more if needed)
• 1 cup sweetcorn- optional

Method

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil for 5 minutes until softened.

Add the spices and grated carrot and sauté for 2-3 more minutes.

Add all remaining ingredients and bring to the bill before simmering for approx 20 mins until the lentil are cooked.