526. Brown Lentil Soup

Lentil soup is to be treated with exceptional respect. It is a sustaining and highly nutritious soup, that has gotten people over thousands of years through hard times and near-famine.

I have already posted my trusty red lentil soup long ago, but this brown lentil soup is no inferior in the slightest. It is not blended (because it would turn muddy(, and contains shreds of silverbeet and sprinkles of lemon. Spinach, kale, beetroot or turnip leaves, or any hardy green leafy vegetable would do in place of the silverbeet.
This recipe is from my old, loved, and tattered Complete Middle East Cookbook by Tess Mallos.
To serve, I wrapped lime halves in sterile gauze to make for effortless and seedless squirting (something I picked up at a hotel iftar meal).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups brown lentils
6 cups cold water
1 1/2 cups shredded silverbeet
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, grated
1/2 cup coriander, chopped
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup lemon juice

Method:

Put the lentils ina pot with the six cups of cold water and bring to a boil.
Simmer gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the lentils are soft.
Heat oil in a separate pan and saute the onion and garlic until soft but not yet brown.
Add the shredded silverbeet to the onions and saute until wilted.
Pour onion mixture in the lentil soup and stir in the fresh coriander as well.
Season with the salt, pepper, and lemon juice and simmer gently another 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve soup with extra lemon wedges or lime halves.

صحة و عافية