Three Lentil Chickpea Soup
Serves 4, generously
Ingredients
Extra virgin olive oil, enough to cover the base of the pan
1 onion, finely chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
1 heaped tablespoon dried mixed herbs
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
100g red lentils, rinsed
50g brown lentils, rinsed
50g green lentils, rinsed
2 carrots, diced
1 sweet potato, diced
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Large handful baby spinach, shredded
Bunch spring onions, chopped
1 heaped tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
Pinch of sea salt
Few grinds of black pepper
Method
Before you start cooking, soak the lentils in water for 30 minutes.
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 and celery followed by the herbs, 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 five minutes.
Put the carrots and sweet potato 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 regularly.
Stir in the tomato puree and cook for a further four or five minutes.
When the vegetables and lentils are cooked, take the pan off the heat, remove the bay leaf and blitz with a hand blender until roughly blended. Stir through the chickpeas and return to the heat. Cook for five minutes to bring the soup back to temperature.
Finally take off the heat, stir through the spinach, spring onions and yeast flakes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.