Mexican Lentil Soup

Lentil and Chipotle Soup

Cooking Time 1 ½ hour
Ingredients (serves 6 -8) * 1 tablespoon olive oil * 50g butter * salt * 2 carrots, diced * 2 sticks celery, diced * 2 brown onion, chopped * 2 X 400g can diced tomatoes * 6 litre of water * 500g uncooked brown lentils. * 3 tsp chipotle tobasco sauce * 1/8 tsp chopped dried chilli * 1 ½ tsp cumin * 5 tsp chicken stock powder * 2 tsp veg stock powder * 1 bag corn chips * 100g sour cream * Extra chipotle sauce

Method 1. Put 6 litre of water plus stock powders into a pot, turn on high heat and add rinsed lentils. When boiling turn to simmer and simmer for 1 and ½ hours. 2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onions the add butter, and after a while add the carrots and then the celery. Add 1 teaspoon of salt ,cumin and chilli continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until vegetables are very well cooked. 3. Add tomatoes to simmering lentils. Cover and continue to simmer. 4. Add cooked vegetables to simmering lentils and tomatoes. Can take lid off pot if too watery. 5. .Serve with sour cream on soup with a sprinkling of chipotle on sour cream. 6. Eat soup with corn chips, either sprinkled on top or dip chip into soup and sour cream.

Tofu & Spinach Stir-fry

Pulling this off my original blog.  It is about my first experience with tofu. 

I put off eating tofu for quite awhile, but the two recipes, I think there were two, were a great success.  From memory this one is my favourite. 

Tofu & Spinach Stir-Fry
Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 22 mins
Tofu & Spinach Stir-Fry
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (300g) SunRice Thai Jasmine Fragrant Rice
2 1/4 cups stock or water
1 tblspn oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tspns grated ginger
2 chillies, sliced
1/3 cup pinenuts
300g fried tofu, cut into 2cm cubes
1 bunch English spinach, washed and shredded
1/3 cup soy or teriyaki sauce (optional)
Method:
1) Bring rice and stock (or water) to the boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 12 minutes. Remove from heat and stand, covered, 10 minutes.
2) Heat oil in a wok or frypan over a moderately high heat.Stir-fry onions until golden, 3-4 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, chillies and pinenuts and cook until nuts are golden, 2-3 minutes.
3) Stir in tofu and spinach, cook for 3 minutes or until spinach has wilted. Stir in rice and soy sauce (optional), heat through and serve.
Tips:
Rice can be prepared ahead of time.
Variations:
For a Japanese style meal use SunRice Koshihikari rice instead of SunRice Jasmine rice.
The recipe is from SunRice.  Though the recipe doesn’t appear to be on the site anymore.

The reason I seem vague, it was exactly a year ago when I tried this recipe. 

Brussels Sprouts Main Recipe

Brussels Sprouts with Lentils

(Serves 4 as a side)
- 3-4 cups Brussels sprouts, cut in qtr
- 1 cup cooked French lentils  (1/2 cup dried lentils)
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped mint
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- sea salt

For dressing:
- 2 tsp hot English mustard
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt and pepper to taste

Cook dried lentils with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar for about 35 mins.
Heat olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add brussell  sprouts and cook, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes, until they become browned in some parts.  Cover and allow to cook on low heat until as soft   Stir in lentils and remove from heat. add dressing and chopped parsley, mix well to combine. Serve warm. (season as reqd).
.Mix dressing by shaking in a small jar.

Serve with mashed potatoes.

Adapted from here.

Egg and Roast Capsicum Pizza Recipe

Egg and roast capsicum pizza

Ingredients (serves4)
* 1 cup tomato passata (sugo)
* ½ cup tomato paste
* 1 capsicum sliced thin
* ½ onion sliced thin
* 1 cup grated pizza cheese (or use a mix of mozzarella and cheddar)
* 1 egg for each person 4 or 5.
* 1 tsp Oregano
BASE
1 1/3 cups plain flour
 1 tsp yeast
Pinch salt, pinch sugar
160 to 170 ml warm water
Method
BASE
Put ingredients in a microwave proof bowl and mix together , mix to be slightly damp
Put mix in microwave for 15 sec on high, 5 mins off and another 15 secs on high
Knead the dough. Roll out on floured surface and put on large pizza dish

Grill onion and capsicum
Cut onion and capsicum into thin slices mix with salt and oil in a flat aluminium dish.
Put under high grill until cooked well

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Spread the pizza base with passata paste mix, then scatter with capsicum and onion
3.  Bake for 5 minutes, then remove the pizza from the oven and use the back of a tablespoon to make 3 indents in the pizza. Crack an egg into each indent, season. Add herbs then cheese.
4. Bake the pizza for a further 5-6 minutes until eggs are just set, cheese is melted and base is golden.
5. Slice and serve.

Adzuki Bean & Pumpkin Recipe

Had this last night, we were really impressed.

Adzuki Bean & Pumpkin Soup Recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon (dried) coriander
2 tsp hot paprika
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
2 medium-large onions
8 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
4 cups butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (1 kg)
3 tsp veg stock powder
5 - 6 cups water, (cover pumpkin and beans)
5 whole canned tomatoes, chopped (2 cans whole peeled)
4 cups pre-soaked adzuki beans (overnight).
coriander chopped

Method

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until they start to go translucent. Add the cinnamon, coriander, paprika and salt and saute for a minute or two - until aromatic. Add the garlic, cook. Then add butternut squash, cooking for about 5 mins, stir well, and then add beans and tomatoes. Cover with just enough water (plus stock powder). Increase the heat to bring to a boil, and once boiling, reduce heat,cover, and simmer, until the squash begins to soften – 15-20 minutes. Once the pumpkin has softened, use a potato masher and break up the pumpkin pieces and whole tomatoes as well.

Cook for about 1 hour in total.

Serve sprinkled with the coriander.
Serves about 8.

Adapted from this recipe.

Miso Paste Recipe

Vegie Patties

425g tin chickpeas
5 carrots, grated, lightly steamed
2 cups brown rice, cooked until soft
3 tablespoon tahini
2 teaspoons miso paste
2 spring onions, chopped
4 sheets nori seaweed, chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley

Whiz chickpeas in a food processor until broken up. Stir in carrot, rice, tahini and miso. Knead well. Mix in spring onion nori and parsley. Form into balls and flatten slightly. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat and cook patties until golden both sides. Makes 12.

From House & Garden AU Feb 2008. This is a recipe we have used many times.

Red Lentil Recipe

On my menu this week is this recipe. My husband adapted it. It is really lovely.

Fragrant Egg Curry


Ingredients (serves 4)
• 1 Red onion, chopped
• 2 tbs grated fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbs light oil
• 2 tbs Ayam curry powder
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 10 dried curry leaves*
• 425g can diced tomatoes
• 8 hard-boiled eggs
• 1/2 cup red lentils
• 1 cup peas (frozen are fine)
• 1 tbs chopped fresh coriander
• 2 teas raw sugar
• Cooked rice, to serve

Method
1. Work on curry sauce first, keep going working with the sauce until
the eggs are put in curry, then add rice to boiling water. The eggs
could be started at the beginning of the cooking.

2. Place onion, ginger and garlic in a food processor and process to
form a paste, use a little oil to help with blending process.

3. Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan, add the paste and cook over
low heat for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the spices and cook for 1 minute, stirring to release the flavours.

5. Add the tomatoes and 500ml (2 cups) water and bring to the boil.
Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.

6. Shell and halve the eggs and add to the pan with the lentils and
peas. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes or until lentils are soft.
Near the end of cooking if mixture is too thick add a small amount of
water (not too much), should be slightly thick paste. Stir in the
coriander.

7. Serve with cooked rice.

Curried Tomato & Coriander Rice with Egg

From: Good Taste June 2009 (not sure if it is on the Taste site, I can't see it yet.) I suspect it used to be on the Keen site.

Curried Tomato & Coriander Rice with Egg

1 tabs olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
300g ( 1 1/2 cups) basmati rice
1 tab Keen's Curry Powder
750ml (3 cups) vegetable stock
3 large tomatoes, finely chopped
1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped
4 eggs
Fresh coriander leaves, extra, to serve
Baby spinach leaves, to serve

Heat oil in a large, deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or until golden. Add the rice and curry powder. Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 12 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.

Use a fork to separate the grains. Stir in the tomato and coriander.

Use the back of a spoon to make4 large evenly spaced indents in the rice mixture. Crack an egg into each indent. Cook, covered, for 5-8 minutes or until the eggs are just set.

Top with extra coriander and serve with baby spinach leaves.

Plates Johnson Australia.

Homemade Kewpie Mayonnaise & Vegetarian Japanese Pancakes

We have been still making Vegetarian Japanese Pancakes adapted from another site. Post about it here. Here is our adaption so far:

Vegetarian Japanese pancakes

You will need for 12 rather large pancakes or many littler ones:
Pancake batter
1. ½ cup of self-raising flour
2. 1 ½ cup of plain flour
3. 2 large eggs
4. 3 cups of cabbage, thinly sliced
5. 2 cups grated carrot
6. 2 cups grated potatoes
7. 1 tbsp of chopped fresh mint leaves (optional best leave out)
8. 1 tsp of salt
9. 1 tsp of pepper
10. Some milk
11. Some oil
Mix the flours, egg, salt and pepper together add milk to give thick and not runny mixture. Add the vegetables.
Add some oil to a non-stick frying pan, spoon the pancake batter , flatten out with back of spoon.
Fry until both sides are golden brown.
To serve:
Serving without smoked salmon, spread thinly kewpie (Q.P) mayonnaise and some Worcester sauce (rather than tomato sauce only).
QP mayo is much less sweeter than ‘normal’ mayonnaise and that is why it goes well with the vegetable pancake and Worcester.



Kewpie mayonnaise recipes:

Just Hungry

Not Quite Nigella

BellaOnline



Other things I found:

Japanese Pancakes from msn

Vegetarian Japanese Pancakes another version from Travelling in Mary Janes

Another Vegetarian Japanese Pancake from Your Weekly Menu (an Australian menu site)

Japanese Pizza Pancake from Not Quite Nigella

Wholemeal version from I Ate Brisbane which is sad as my husband wants to make wholemeal ones too, he is the one who wants to make his own mayonnaise as well.

Cookbook Suggestion

I found this cookbook in my pile of books, magazines and papers. Actually my husband did. It fits in so well with what we have been cooking and menu planning lately. A real treasure.

Lately we have been roasting tomatoes, roasting pumpkin slices and having sliced zucchini in pizzas on pita bread.

Though this book encourages you to buy products like Latina or Old El Paso items, still the rest of the ingredients are cheap. It even has a photo of a paella pan like the one I got for a blog prize.

It was published in 2003 for General Mills Australia. Sometimes you can get these type of books on ebay.

I am just amazed at the vegetarian versions. For example Vegetable Gorditas that includes broccoli (keep in mind I made a Mexican dish with pumpkin recently), Soft Tacos with Spicy Chargrilled Vegetables.

There is a really clear picture of Chimichangas.

The non-vegetarian recipe that I like is Nachos with Chicken & Olives. What a great variation to the one that our family makes, it uses a BBQ chook.

I have gone off Italian, but this book was great. Gnocchi with Parsley Olive Pesto & Grilled Cherry Tomatoes. We are eating rocket pesto that is homemade from a recent sausage recipe on my menu plan for lunch on toast. Lovely.

The soups look fabulous and there is a great recipe for Italian sausages which are hard to come by I feel. There is also the paella recipe that is a variation of our family's one which is from the McCormick spices site.

Black-eyed Bean, Mushroom & Silverbeet Balti

In my current menu I have this recipe. The link is broken, thankfully the good people of Riverford recovered it for me.


Black eyed bean, mushroom and chard balti

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

If you have aubergines and courgettes in your box, substitute the mushrooms and chard for these, chop them into small chunks, you may need to cook them for slightly longer.

1 can black eyed beans, rinsed and drained
300g chard, roughly chopped
200g mushrooms, halved
3 tbsps oil
3cm piece root ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 green chilli, finely chopped (1 tsp dried chilli if not available)
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
handful fresh coriander, chopped
5 tomatoes, chopped
salt to season

Instructions

Heat oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Fry the garlic, chilli and ginger for a couple of minutes. Add the rest of the spices and cook for another minute, then add the chard and mushrooms, cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, beans and coriander, cook for another 5 minutes or so. Season to taste. Serve with basmati rice, yoghurt and pickles.

Silverbeet & Black-eyed Bean Soup & Greek Lentil Soup

The above picture is dill, horseradish and chives. My husband picked a lot of chives from our other house to use this week, I eat horseradish cream sandwiches and tonight dill in our soup.

This is a recipe we have used in the past, possibly our first recipe with black-eyed beans. I liked the delicate flavour of the beans.

Silverbeet and Black-eyed Bean Soup

Serves 4-6

190g (1 metric cup 250ml size) or 1 1/4 US cups black eyed beans, soaked overnight in cold water or substitute a 400g tin of borlotti beans or lentils
40ml (2 metric tablespoons) olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 dried bird's eye chilli, crumbled (optional)
1 litre (4 metric cups) chicken stock
400g tin diced Italian tomatoes (30g is 1oz) Roma
1 bunch silverbeet or chard, washed, trimmed, roughly chopped

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and add the soaked black-eyed beans. Simmer for 30 minutes or until tender. Drain well.

In another large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, cumin, fennel seeds and chilli, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring continuously, until the onion is soft. Add the chicken stock and tomatoes, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the black-eyed beans and silverbeet. Simmer for about 10 minutes and serve immediately.

Adapted from recipe in Family Circle (Australian) October 2006.



Here is another recipe we use, we are eating it tonight with wombuk instead of spinach.

Greek Lentil, Spinach & Dill Soup

Serves 6.

2 tabs olive oil
3 medium brown onions, chopped finely
1 stick celery, chopped finely
1 medium carrot, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 fresh long red chilli, seeded, sliced thinly or green chilli
2 bay leaves
6 stalks fresh parsley, or 1/3 cup chopped
1 1/2 cups (300g or 10oz) brown lentils
3 litres (12-15 cups) water
2 teaspoons salt
freshly ground black pepper
5oz/150g baby spinach leaves or Chinese cabbage
1 tab red wine vinegar, approx.
1/2 cup lightly packed fresh dill sprigs or 1/3 cup chopped
3 chicken stock cubes
3/4 teaspoon sugar

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, cook onion, celery and carrot, stirring, for about 5 mins or until softened. Add the garlic, chilli, bay leaves and parsley stalks, cook, stirring until fragrant. Add the lentils, stir to coat, add the water, bring to the boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, for about 20 mins or until lentils are tender. (Our own recipe says 1 1/2 hours, and usually 45 minutes is the minimum from memory.) Remove the bay leaves and parsley stalks. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Add the spinach, stir until wilted. Stir in vinegar to taste and sprinkle with dill. Suitable to freeze.

Adapted from: The Australian Women's Weekly June 2004

Roasted Pumpkin, Boc Choy, Miso & Lentil Soup

Roasted Pumpkin with Bok Choy Lentil Soup


½ small or medium pumpkin (say kent or butternut)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil for coating pumpkin, plus 2 tablespoons for sautéing
1 cup dried lentils (orange)
2 litres water, 4 teasp stock powder
2 teas miso paste (shiro), some dulce seaweed (1/2 handful chopped with scissors)
1 teas salt,
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8 button mushrooms, chopped
1 pound bok choy, washed and hard ends sliced off (also slice 1/3 lengthways- easier to eat)
1 teaspoon paprika

Wash the rind of the pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and, wish a sturdy knife; cut the squash into 20 cm slices (angled). Toss the pumpkin in olive oil, salt.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lay the pumpkin slices on a trays lined with baking paper. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, turning the pumpkin over halfway through, until tender (and well roasted).
At 25 minutes before the pumpkin is done, bring 2 litres of water to boil. Add dried lentils, and cook until soft, about 20 minutes. Add miso, salt (1 teasp) seaweed and stock powder.

While lentils are cooking, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet. Add onions, sauté, when nearly transparent and beginning to caramelise add the garlic. After a while add mushrooms, sauté for 5 to 6 minutes. Put into soup mix. Turn heat up on pan and add a bit more oil, add bok choy (keep stirring the greens) and cook until beginning to brown in places and obviously well cooked. Transfer vegetables to soup pot.

Divide soup into individual bowls. Serve with pumpkin slices on the side, can slice pumpkin into bite-sized pieces and add to soup.

This recipe my husband adapted from appetite for China's recipe, Roasted Kaboucha Squash with Bok Choy

Soup Kitchen ~ Budget Vegetarian Menu

Last fortnight we had two nights of left-overs and a couple of swaps

~ Spicy Chickpea Casserole with Feta
~ Kransky Soup, we shouted ourselves some sausages for this meal as it is a favourite

so some recipes left over:


Monday ~ Roasted Pumpkin with Bok Choy Lentil Soup
Tuesday ~ Tomato & Borlotti Bean Soup
Wednesday ~ Indian Spiced Red Lentil Soup
Thursday ~ Perfect Potato Gnocchi
Friday ~ Curried Lentil & Pumpkin Soup

and so on to recipes made with this:

Saturday: Polenta & Corn Bake
Sunday: Vegetable Spring Rolls
Monday: Vegetarian Japanese Pancakes
Tuesday: Vegetable & Noodle Stir-fry (uses vermicelli noodles, red capsicum for the list, with snow peas, broccoli)

I may leave it there. I am unable to go shopping myself as my husband has to go out that day to go to the dentist, and I have to be home for the kids, as the dentist is over two hours away. So we may top up the food on the Wednesday, if it fits in with my bills. I will make up a list for the essentials and he will do his usual milk, cheese and washing powder run, and I will order bread to be delivered online which I usually do. Turns out I have ingredients for these recipes, just need a small amount of extras like mayonnaise and gerkins etc. I will be able to have the list ready from this menu for Wednesday.

Wednesday ~ Penne with Pumpkin Sauce
Thursday ~ Spaghettini with Smashed Buttery Peas
Friday ~ Country Bean Risotto
Saturday ~ Spicy Beans
Sunday ~ Potato & Egg Salad
Monday ~ Classic Pumpkin Soup


Interesting recipes: Cabbage Vadai Fritters (made with red lentils) I have been paying better attention to the food blogs on Belinda's sidebar. Also Creamy Jerusalem Artichoke Soup a bit like the one we used to make, will have to check mine one day. My husband had the recipe out to show his friend, here it is:

Cream of Artichoke Soup

80g (3oz) butter
2 large onions, sliced
1kg (2lb) Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and sliced
1 1/4 cups water
3 1/2 cups milk
salt, pepper
3 tablespoons flour
5 tablespoons extra milk
1 egg
5 tablespoons cream
paprika

Melt butter and fry onion until soft but not brown. Add artichokes, water, milk, salt & pepper. Bring to the boil and cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until artichokes are tender. Put into blender, blend until smooth and return to pan. Mix flour with extra milk and stir into soup. Bring to the boil while stirring, simmer 2 minutes. Beat egg and add cream. Stir this mixture into soup, and reheat but do not boil. Adjust seasoning if necessary and serve immediately. Garnish with paprika.



An interesting preserve recipe if I ever get a cumquat tree. Pickled Cumquats

Broccoli & Potato Soup

Broccoli and potato soup


Ingredients (serves 6)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large brown onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1kg broccoli, cut into florets (can chop stalks and use these)
• 1 to 1 ½ Kg potatoes, peeled, chopped
• 1.5 litre vegetable stock (3 teas veg, 2 teas chicken, 1 teas beef powder)
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt

Method
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and
garlic. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until soft.
2. Add broccoli, potato, stock and 2 cups cold water. Cover. Bring to
the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring, for 10 to 15 minutes
or until potato is tender. Remove from heat. Process until smooth.
Return to pan. Cook for 5 minutes or until heated through. Season with
pepper. Serve.


An adaptation of a Taste recipe.

Aduki Bean Chilli

Mixed Bean Chilli Soup

My girls loved this, used it as they would chilli made with mince or ground beef. Yes, we had it on Wednesday and we had chowder this week too.

To cook adzuki beans:
Soak overnight (in fridge) 1 cup adzuki beans and 5 cups water.
Cook with 1 dried chilli and 1 teasp of salt and 1 teaspoon sugar for about 40 mins
Remove chilli, drain (reserve liquid) and blitz adding some reserved liquid for thick paste
Add to cooking ingredients below and mix in properly.

Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 green pepper, deseeded and chopped
125g button mushrooms, sliced (much more- about ½ paper bag)
1/4 tsp chilli powder, or to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
400g can Butter beans (don’t drain juice OK)
400g can chopped tomatoes (whole tomatoes mashed)
600ml tomato juice (not needed)
300ml vegetable stock
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (not needed)

TO SERVE: 4 tbsp half-fat crème fraîche, try also Corn Chips
fresh coriander sprigs (not needed)

Preparation method
1, Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and peppers and fry them gently, stirring constantly, for 2–3 minutes until softened. Add the mushrooms, chilli powder and ground cumin and cook gently, stirring, for about 30 seconds

2, Tip the mixed pulses and tomatoes into the saucepan. Add the tomato juice, stock and chopped coriander. Stir well, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat. Partially cover the pan with a lid and simmer gently for 20 minutes until all the vegetables are tender.

3, Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each portion with 1 tbsp of crème fraîche and some coriander sprigs.

Recipe adapted from here. They use: Canned mixed pulses contain soya, pinto, black-eye, red kidney and aduki beans, and chickpeas.

Mung Bean Soup

Above is red kidney, pinto, mung (green), black turtle, aduki and haricot beans.

We had this soup tonight. I admit I was putting off cooking the mung beans that I have had for ages dried in the pantry. This soup had a better texture than lentil soup. Similar, but nicer and seemed very healthy. We used vegetables we also didn't want to deal with. Absolutely delicious. Good way to use up marrow and beetroot from the garden. Don't be put off by the spices. You can't taste them, they just do something to the ordinary vegetables and make the whole thing work. The recipe comes from this blog and has been adapted.


Mung Bean and Vegetable Soup

Rinse the mung beans under cold running water. Soak overnight, mung beans, (1 ½ cups mung beans well covered with water) the beans swell to about 2 ½ times volume. Soak in fridge in warmer temps.

1 cup dried mung beans
1 to 2 cups chopped vegetables
(used 2 beetroot cubed small,
small celery chopped,
3 garlic chopped small,
2 small onions chopped roughly,
Piece of Japanese radish, chopped small,

2 pieces of large zucchini chopped into smallish cubes…all vegetables fried in oil in batches

In order of cooking times, starting with onions and garlic cooked with spices

Water will need to be added depending on quantity of vegetables and how thick you want the soup to be

1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

Drain and rinse the soaked beans and add to a medium saucepan. Cover with 3 cups of fresh cold water and bring to a boil and cover. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the beans are soft, stirring occasionally.

Season with salt to taste, and serve hot or warm. Serves 4.

Quick version of our favourite soup

Canned Lentil Soup

2 tablespoons ghee
vegetable oil
4 medium-small carrots
3 stalks celery
1 onion

Chop these vegetables and fry gently in ghee and oil. Add

1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 bacon stock cubes

until cooked well.

1/2 cup aborio rice

Mix with vegetables.

Add cans (420g)

2 cans tomatoes
2 cans lentils
1 can green peas

Chop tomatoes with potato masher, bring to boil cook 30 minutes.

Adapted from Brown Lentil & Vegetable Soup.