Dinner
Red Lentil Soup
Red lentils do not need soaking and they break down into a thick soup in 20 minutes, which makes them the fastest dried legume there is. A one pound bag costs about two dollars and makes this soup twice. If you are trying to cut your food spending hard, start here.
Cost a serving$0.85
Time30 minutes
Serves6
Protein15g
Soup and bread at a cafe costs about $10. This costs $0.85 a serving.
You save about $9.15 every time you make it instead.
What you need
Pot, Wooden spoon
No special tools
No Immersion blender?Red lentils fall apart on their own. Just stir hard at the end. If you want it truly smooth, mash against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds.
No Vitamix?Not needed at all for this. Skip it.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped, optional
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, optional
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups dried red lentils, rinsed
- 6 cups vegetable broth or water plus 2 bouillon cubes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Chopped parsley or cilantro, optional
How to make it
- Heat the oil in a pot over medium. Add the onion and carrot with a pinch of salt and cook 6 minutes until soft.
- Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Then add the cumin, coriander, turmeric, and cayenne and stir for another 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the tomato paste and cook it for a full minute, stirring, until it darkens from bright red to brick. Cooking the paste out removes the tinny raw taste. Do not skip this.
- Add the rinsed lentils, broth, and salt. Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer, partly covered, for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Stir a few times as it cooks. Lentils sink and stick. It is done when the lentils have completely lost their shape and the soup coats a spoon.
- Off the heat, add the lemon juice. Taste. Lentil soup without acid tastes muddy, and most people fix that by adding more salt when what it actually needs is lemon.
- Thin with hot water if it got too thick. It thickens a lot as it sits.
Protein
About 15 grams per bowl, which is excellent for something that costs 85 cents. Serve with bread or rice to round out the amino acids, or stir in a half cup of plain yogurt at the table.
Ways to add more
- Stir in a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt per bowl
- Add 1 can drained chickpeas in the last 5 minutes
- Serve over rice for a more complete protein
Keeping it
Five days in the fridge and four months in the freezer. It thickens to a paste when cold, which is normal. Add water when reheating.
Change it up
- Add 2 cups frozen spinach in the last 5 minutes
- Finish with a spiced butter: melt 3 tablespoons butter with a teaspoon of paprika and pour it over each bowl
- Add a can of coconut milk in place of 1 1/2 cups of the broth for a richer version