lentil soup with arabic spices
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Guys, do you love soup as much as I do? I love love love soup, and my girls loves soup. My husband…he tolerates it. Me and the girls could eat this soup by itself for dinner once a week, but per the hubs request I usually serve it with grilled cheese, or as a side. OR sometimes I skip the final step of pureeing the soup and since it’s more like a stew, it counts as a meal (he agrees it’s a mental thing, but stands firm that it makes him feel more full?).
As part of this recipe, I am including individually each the spices in my spice mix that I use to give food a middle-eastern flavor. I got it from a Arabian Peninsula cookbook and it works great for all sorts of recipes. If you don’t want to make a large batch of the spice mix, and just want to use it for the recipe, make 1/4 of the recipe.
Lentil Soup
ingredients
2.5 cups lentils (I use red lentils, they are a bit smaller and cook quicker)
6-8 cups chicken stock, divided
2 carrots
1 medium zucchini
1 large beef tomatoes
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
2 TBS arabic spices (recipe following)
1 tsp turmeric
olive oil
1 tsp each salt and pepper
1 cup plain yogurt
Directions
Shred the carrot and zucchini. Finely dice the tomatoes, onion and garlic. Heat about 1 TBS oil in a large stockpot. Saute the onion and garlic until translucent, add in the rest of the veggies and cook for another 4-5 minutes over low heat. Add in the spices and stir to coat all the veggies. Cook a couples minutes longer until the zucchini and carrots are completely soft. Add dry lentils and stir to mix in completely. Pour 3 cups stock over the lentils and veggies. Turn heat to low and cook for about 30 minutes, checking every 10 or so to make sure there is still enough liquid and the lentils aren’t burning on bottom. If it looks like all the liquid has been absorbed, add more. At 30 minutes, taste a lentil to see if it is completely cooked (it should be mushy, no crunch at all). Working in batches, add 1/2 the lentils and 1-2 cups stock to a blender and blend until smooth. Adjust the amount of stock depending on how thick you want the soup to be. (Alternatively, if you have a bullet type blender, you can add the remaining stock to the pot and blend the soup in the pot). Ladle soup into bowls and add a big dollop of yogurt to each bowl.
Arabic Spice Mix
Ingredients:
1/4 cup ground black pepper
1/4 cup ground paprika
2 TBS ground coriander
2 TBS ground cinnamon
2 TBS ground cumin
2 TBS ground nutmeg
1 1/2 TBS ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cardamon
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together, store in an airtight container.
Jord, I’m so excited to try this! I love lentils, Arabic flavors, soup, and I’m tired of eating the same old thing. Like Drew, Paul would probably prefer I grill some chicken to serve alongside. ๐ thank you!
Haha- Adam is in the same boat! ๐ And my brother! Though, my dad eats soup like a champ… someday. ๐
OH I too love soup! I wonder if its a gender thing because while my husband and our boys tolerate soup they prefer something with more substance. Now my husband does LOVE a good thick beef stew with lots of carrots, potatoes, and a healthy dose of green peas. This sounds delicious and I have all the spices/herbs on hand. Trust me do I ever!! I just emptied out 2 drawers and the top shelf of 2 cabinets trying to sort out my spices. Some I am going to chuck because I found out my husband does not like them and I don’t know anyone who will use them. Such is life! Have a wonderful day!
Peggy, I think the soup-is-not-a-meal IS a boy thing… ๐ And how funny that you found so many spices!
ps- Adam’s exception is green chile stew (with a decent amount of pork/chicken) with fresh tortillas. ๐