Spiced Lentil Soup

spiced lentil soup

January is usually the month people start thinking about eating better. Or living better. Less sweet, less meat, less fat, more exercise, more eat-in…

It’s common sense that eating less meat or less fat is good for your health. We’ve always known that. However we’ve still cooked and eaten whatever we want. Fortunately my family has never had any health issues that put us off anything that we love to eat. Plus I am a baker. I bake with everything. Full fat, whole eggs, and lot of gluten. That’s how I love my food.

All this until my husband and I watched Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret on Netflix. It takes one person through a very personal journey to show animal agriculture, the planet’s most destructive industry that the government and even environmental organizations strive to conceal from the public although it’s the real cause of climate change and global warming. Can you imagine that it takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a single pound of beef?!

spiced lentil soup spiced lentil soup

The documentary emphasises that there is only one course of action that will change the world – don’t eat meat! We can adapt and go with a more healthy diet or we can wait for a massive ecological change and have our population levels and civilization crash like so many others have before.

The other day I tried to talk about this with my 7-year-old son. Over the conversation about vegan and vegetarian, my son declared that, “So I am a Meat-a-tarian!” I won’t lie, it’s hard for us to stop eating meat and diary products right away. But considered how our next generations will be forced to do that, I would want to start the ground work now.

So I’ve started to search for vegan recipes. And soups sound pretty manageable but still delicious. This spiced lentil soup recipe from Cookie and Kate was the first one I decided to try. And WOW! I wish I knew it sooner that vegan cooking could be this tasty too!

spiced lentil soup

What I love about this spiced lentil soup is that it’s very flavourful with lots of spice and super easy to put together. The addition of collard greens is my ultimate favourite as I am a huge collard greens fan! By the way, have you tried collard greens stir fry with garlic? Oh my god!

Kristin, a lovely lady whom I came across with over blogging, has spent a long time on research and synthesis of practical experience, and recently shared a very comprehensive blog post on Everything You Want To Know About How to Cook Lentils: The Ultimate Guide. A very thorough, fun and inspiring read!

Ingredients (serves 4 to 6):
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 540-gram can of lentils, rinsed and drained
4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup chopped fresh collard greens
Directions:
Heat oil in a large heave-duty pot over medium high heat. Add the onions and carrots. Cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic, cumin, coriander, curry powder and thyme. Cook and stir for another minute.
Add tomatoes with the juice and cook for a few more minutes.
Stir in lentils, broth and water. Add salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Bring the mixture to a boil on high heat. Cover the pot and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
Add the chopped collard greens and cook for another 5 minutes, until vegetable is just softened.
Serve immediately with a squeeze of lemon juice, Tabasco and vegan Parmesan, if desired.

6 comments

  1. Hi Fanny, this looks delicious! My family have been down with flu for a whole week. This is exactly what we need now!

  2. Lentil soup is the best! So hearty and comforting. This looks like an awesome bowl of goodness! Thanks for sharing!

  3. Hi Fanny, this is a great post! Like you said, we all know that consuming meat is harmful for our environment. However we just keep doing that. Maybe we don’t care?! But what about our next generations?! I’ve been a vegan since two years ago, and have never considered going back because there are so many wonderful vegan food and recipes out there, like yours! This lentil soup is such a keeper!

    1. Thanks, Kaitlin! Good for you being a vegan! I think we as a family still have a long way to go! Let’s do it! :)

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