Seasonal Summer Greens Soup
Serves 4, generously
Ingredients
Extra virgin olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan
1 onion, finely chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
Small bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped, keep stalks aside to cook with onion
1 heaped tablespoon dried mixed herbs
1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 bay leaf
100g red split lentils, rinsed
2 carrots, diced
1 sweet potato, diced
1 courgette, diced
Small bunch spring greens, chopped
Large handful spinach
1 x 400g tin haricot beans, drained and rinsed
150g petits pois
1 lime, juiced
Pinch of sea salt
Few grinds of black pepper
Method
Leave the lid on at each stage when you are cooking this soup, the steam helps the vegetables cook nicely and more efficiently.
Put the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan on a gentle heat and add the onions, garlic, celery and parsley stalks followed by the herbs, spices, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Stir and let cook until soft but not browned. This takes about 10 minutes. If the onions start to stick, turn down the heat and add a splash of water.
Add the lentils and small cup of water, give it a good stir and leave to simmer for 5 minutes.
Put the carrots, sweet potato and courgette into the pan and mix everything together. Add cold water to just cover the vegetables. Bring to a simmer and cook until the lentils and vegetables have softened, this will take about 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Add the spring greens and spinach to the pan and a little more water if necessary. Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
When all the vegetables are cooked, take the pan off the heat, remove the bay leaf and blitz with a hand blender until roughly blended. Stir through the haricot beans and petits pois, return to the heat to bring the soup back to temperature and cook for 4-5 minutes.
Finally take off the heat, stir through the parsley and lime juice, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.