Recipe for Mexican lentil Soup - super tasty, vegan and really healthy. The lentils fill you up for ages too
Ingredients:
1 cup dry red lentils
2 cups water
Either a small amount of olive oil or low cal cooking spray to grease the pan.
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 T minced garlic (or less, but I like a lot of garlic)
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chile powder
1 tin tomatoes
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp. Tabasco sauce (or any hot sauce)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (2-3 limes, or less if you're not that into lime)
1/2 - 1 cup chopped fresh coriander
Put red lentils in a small pot, rinse and drain if needed, then add 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, turn off heat and cover. Let lentils sit in the hot water 30 minutes.
While lentils are cooking in the water, finely chop onions and celery and mince garlic. Heat oil in heavy soup pot, add onion and celery and saute for 3-4 minutes, just long enough that vegetables are starting to soften. Add garlic and cook a few minutes more. Add ground turmeric, ground cumin, and chilli powder, stir, and cook 1-2 minutes more.
Add diced roasted tomatoes, vegetable broth, and hot sauce. Add lentils after they have soaked for 30 minutes, then let soup simmer for 15-30 minutes (or until lentils are as soft as you'd like them. I simmered it about 25 minutes.)
While soup cooks, wash, dry and finely chop 1/2 - 1 cup fresh coriander and squeeze limes to get 1/4 cup fresh lime juice. When the lentils are softened as much as you'd like, stir in chopped coriander and lime juice and cook 5 minutes more.
