This soup is an ode to the colour orange and thanks to its warming ingredients is perfect for giving you a boost of energy when you’re feeling down and/or need some more vitality. The hot paprika provides a little hot zing and the lime juice adds a nice touch of acidity to the sweet main ingredients.
We’re using three super orange ingredients: carrots, red lentils – did anyone say red??? 🙂 – and butternut squash. All easy to find and to prepare.
So get cooking!
P.S.: this is yet another dish from the “Soup Of The Month Project” started by my lovely friends at Embodied Empowerment.
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Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 medium-sized onion
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 piece of fresh ginger
3 teaspoons of flour (optional)
400 gr. butternut squash
200 gr. carrots
120 gr. dried red lentils
2-3 bay leaves
2-3 twigs of fresh thyme or a pinch of dried thyme
2 cloves of garlic
2,5 l. hot water
2 stock cubes (vegetarian) or 2 teaspoons of sea salt
juice of 1 lime
a pinch of hot paprika powder p.p.
Peel and chop the onion coarsely, then grate the peeled ginger and gently fry both in 4 tablespoons of olive oil until soft and nicely smelling, stirring regularly to avoid burning (keep the lid on the pan to help with that).
Add the flour and stir until it becomes a bit of a paste. This will help thicken the soup more and it’s an optional step.
Peel and chop the carrots and the squash, then add them to the ginger and onion mix, stirring a few times.
Rinse the lentils under the tap and sieve.
Add the lentils, the bay leaves and the thyme, the peeled cloves of garlic plus 2,5 litres of hot water to the pan with the vegetables.
Leave to gently bubble for about 40-45 minutes until all ingredients are well cooked.
Add the stock cubes (or the sea salt, if you prefer a purer taste) and remove the thyme sprigs and the bay leaves from the pan.
Puree the soup until nice and smooth and serve with some lime juice and a pinch of hot paprika powder. If you want, you can add some boiled rice to it.
