Though it seems like we’ve yet to truly experience a winter here in the Hudson Valley, there have been some cold nights as of late (if you count the 20s and 30s as cold nights…). What better way to combat the cold than with a nice, hot soup? Today’s recipe is just that—a rich, flavorful soup built on a base of red lentils. In some respects, it’s a soup counterpoint to our recipe for Red Lentil Dal, which we coincidentally posted just less than one year ago (by a matter of weeks!).
If Punxsatawney Phil is right (and seriously, when has he ever been wrong?), we have a few more weeks of winter in store. Keep this delicious recipe in your back pocket for that night when the cold is creeping in the windows and under the front door, and you want to wrap up under a blanket and warm yourself from the inside out.
Lentil Dal
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
1 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup sliced onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
4 cups GF chicken broth
1 cup dried red lentils, rinsed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
Steps
1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a saucepan.
2. Saute the onions about 10 minutes, until soft and translucent.
3. Add the garlic and ginger, and saute one more minute.
4. Add the spices and mix.
5. Add the lentils and broth, bring to boil, and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
6. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth, then simmer 10 more minutes.
Notes
Depending on the amount of sodium in your broth, dial the additional salt in the recipe up or down to taste.
Degrees of Free-dom
This recipe is: gluten-free, peanut-free, tree-nut-free, fish-free, shellfish-free, corn-free, soy-free, refined-sugar-free.
To make this recipe vegetarian, use GF vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth.
To make this recipe dairy/lactose/casein-free, omit the butter, and replace it with an additional tbsp of olive oil.
Nutrition Info
Per serving: 149 calories, 7g fat, 15g carbohydrates, 7g protein, 113mg sodium, 5g dietary fiber, 0g sugars, plus at least 20% RDA folate and at least 10% RDA iron, manganese, and phosphorous.
Enjoy!
– Pete
Recipe nutrition info calculated using SparkRecipes.