Winter Warming Lentil and Cauliflower Soup
This soup is so nutritious, delicious and warms your whole body on a cold day. I love having soup in my fridge ready to warm up when I want a quick, hearty meal. We’re busy, right? We want to eat wisely, right? We want to eat when we’re hungry? This is it on a cold, wintery day/night!
If you do make this soup in advance and have it in the fridge (3 days tops) - add some water to the soup as you’re warming it up on the stove top. It does thicken in the fridge!
Mise En Place - Prepare to succeed - makes cooking so much more doable and fun!
Recipe:
1 cup lentils or dal - wash and drain and soak in bowl of boiling water while you prep
2 tbsp cooking oil or ghee - clarified butter
1 onion chopped
2 tsp salt
3 garlic cloves - minced
1/2 inch ginger root - grated
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
5 cups water or vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
2 medium carrots -half inch slices
1 head cauliflower - trimmed and broken into bite size florets
1 freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
garnish optional: 2 tbsp chopped cilantro, chopped mint, 1/2 red bell pepper chopped
Soaking my lentils in boiling water - increases the mineral absorption in the body and breaks down the starch in the lentils to make them more digestible. Less gassy, more nutrition! Win Win!
- rinse the lentils in cold water and place in a bowl with boiling water. This will make them less gassy and more digestible. Let them sit in the bowl while prepping the next steps.
- in a large pot heat oil or ghee for a few seconds.
- add the chopped onion and a pinch of salt, cook for a few minutes over medium heat. Stir frequently to prevent burning the onion. Onion will become translucent which is what you want.
- add the minced ginger root and spices to the pot. Stir over medium heat for 1 minute.
- pour the lentils and the water that the lentils were soaking in into the pot. Add the water or stock and bay leaves. Bring to a boil then turn the heat down to a simmer.
- add the carrots and stir occasionally. The lentils will soak up the water, so keep an eye on your soup.
- after 10 minutes add the cauliflower. Add more water if the soup gets too thick - cooks choice!
- cover pot and cook for 20 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes.
- taste the soup and add more salt if necessary. We all have our own opinions and taste buds if too salty or not enough.
- Turn off heat and let the soup[sit covered until ready to serve, or place in fridge if you make the soup in advance.
- when you’re ready to serve stir in freshly squeezed lemon or lime, black pepper and a few sprinkles of chopped cilantro or mint and/or chopped red bell peppers.
Genia’s Spoon Me Tips:
Serve this soup with basmati rice. It makes a delicious winter warming lunch or dinner. The soup is fine as is but the rice may give you a complete meal satisfaction.
Bay Leaves: It’s habitual to just add a bay leaf to soups, stews, and sauces but why? Flavor!!! And, btw, if you really want to savor the Bay Leaf flavor then the freezer is a great way to keep those leaves tasting mighty strong: kind of minty tasting. I keep mine in my spice rack - a dark cool location, My fave reason why I love bay leaves: they contain enzymes that help break down proteins and digest food faster and easier - calms any indigestion - and we know how important that is when we eat lentils, beans, meat, etc… a.k.a. my cholent! Here’s the catch: as healthy and tasteful as they are in cooking they are not safe to eat. They are impossible to chew and that’s why we need to be mindful to remove the leaves after cooking, especially before serving your dish or bowl. Those leaves are hard and can get stuck on the way down - get my drift!
Ghee: Ghee is a dairy food but don’t let that deter you from the great benefits of this golden treat. Ghee is clarified butter which means it has an extremely low level of lactose and casein which is a milk protein. Some say it has none! All the milk solids are completely removed. If dairy doesn’t agree with you then ghee is a great alternative to butter. In Ayurveda: the study of life medicine ghee has numerous benefits: essential fatty acids, improves memory, enhancing immunity, soothing for the tummy, and more… Check it out. I love adding ghee to my kasha (buckwheat) and I’m using it in this soup recipe. I also love the taste and smell of ghee. It’s a treasure! Maybe that’s why it’s so expensive but you can make it yourself. That’s for another tutorial!
Warming Love in a bowl,
Genia