Cool winter nights are made for soups.
Lentils are rich in protein, fibre and help to lower cholesterol, so try to add lentils to all your soups, you can also blend the soup if you prefer.

Winter soup with red lentils
Ingredients
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 carrots chopped
- 2 potatoes chopped
- 1 leek sliced
- ¼ celery root (celeriac) chopped
- 2 parsleys chopped
- a handful of dried mushrooms ( I used Slippery Jack, but you can also use Shiitakes or Porcini)
- ½ cup red lentils
- 250 ml vegetable stock
- 250 ml water
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ tsp nigella spice
- 1 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Prepare the mushrooms - soak the dried mushrooms in warm water for about 20 to 30 minutes or until softened (the exact soaking time will depend on the thickness of the caps). When ready simply transfer them to a cutting board and chop, add all chopped mushrooms to the pot. You can also use the water in which mushrooms were soaked in the soup, simply transfer all the water into the pot; sometimes at the bottom of the bowl in which mushrooms were soaking a little sand can be found so just be careful when pouring the water into the pot, best use a big spoon)
- Heat up the coconut oil in a large pot.
- Fry onions in the pot for a couple of minutes until soft
- Once the onion is soft add carrots, potatoes, leek, celery root (celeriac) and parsnip, add a little bit of water and steam undercover on medium heat stirring occasionally or 10 minutes or until soft, if the vegetables start to stick to the bottom of the pot add more water and bring the heat down
- Boil 250ml water and make the vegetable stock
- Add the vegetable stock to the pot and stir; add 250ml boiling water and red lentils and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes undercover stirring occasionally avoiding lentils sticking to the bottom of the pot. Lentis absorbs water fast so in case its necessary add extra water.
- When the soup is ready add salt and pepper
- Serve the soup in a bowl with nigella spice, Enjoy!
Notes