Middle Eastern Lentil Soup with Quinoa is the perfect soup for winter. It is made with dried red lentils, carrots, lemon, quinoa and some amazing spices. Best of all it is so easy to make and you can also make it if you have a Thermomix.
2TBLorganic unsalted butteryou can also use olive oil
2cupssplit red lentilsrinsed well
1large carrotchopped
1litreorganic/natural vegetable stock
3cupswater
1TBLturmeric
1TBLground cumin
2-3tspsea salt
1/2cuporganic quinoacooked as per packet directions
2 - 3lemonsjuiced
Instructions
Sauté garlic and onion - Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan on low heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 10 minutes or until the onion has softened.
Simmer soup - Add the remaining ingredients (except the lemon and quinoa) and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the red lentils are falling apart.
Blend soup - Blend the soup with a hand stick blender.
Add quinoa and lemon - Add the quinoa to the soup and stir through. Add the lemon (I recommended adding the lemon slowly and tasting as you go as some people prefer it to have more lemon than others).
Video
Notes
You can make this soup dairy free and/or vegan by substituting the butter with olive oil.
You can also use rice instead of quinoa, which will change the nutrition info.
If you are unsure as to how much lemon to add, start with the juice of one lemon and then add more if needed. Some people (like me) enjoy the soup with lots of lemon juice. Some prefer less. It is really an individual choice.
If you have a Thermomix - then check out the Themomix method in the post above.