Basic Lentil Soup

When the days are cold, windy and rainy and you have work to do; floors to sand, stairs to paint, wood to stack. You need healthy hearty sustenance what is better than a lentil soup?

Perfect for a lunch or late-night supper.

The following recipe is basic, cheap, healthy, filling and easy to cook (it is also incidentally vegan, which doubles it's health points)


I have kept this recipe as basic as possible, there are suggestions at the end if you want to tszuj it up a bit.

You will need

• A big pot (that will hold around 5 litres)

• 3tbsp olive oil

• 2 onions
• 1 parsnip
• 6 carrots
• 6 potatoes

• 1 cup of lentils

• 2 vegetable stock cubes
• 2 litres of water (about 4 US pints)

• Ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

• Put the pot on a medium heat.

• Add the oil.

• Add all the veg - peeled and roughly chopped.

• Let it all warm up and sizzle for about 5 to 10 mins - Don't let it burn, but a little browning brings out more flavour.

• Add the water, lentils and stock cubes.

• Season with plenty of ground black pepper.

• Let it all boil for at least 30 mins.

• Mash with a potato masher or use a handblender to pureé the soup - I like to leave some lumpy chunks in it when I'm feeling rustic.

Serve with some chunky, or farmhouse style bread.

When the rest of the soup has cooled put it into individual serving sized freezer dishes, label it and freeze.

When you are ready to eat it just zap it in the microwave until piping hot.

I love this soup just as it is, I use it as a quick healthy filling meal but everyone does their own thing with lentil soup; here are some suggestions:

• Use different root veg (I often use a turnip/swede/rutabaga)
• Use chicken or ham stock cubes
• Stir in some boned ham
• Add a bay leaf while cooking (remove before mashing)
• Spice it up with chilli flakes and/or garam masala