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Mediterranean Lentil Soup

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 360.3kcal
Author: Nisha Vora

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 large yellow onion diced (~2 cups / 300g once diced)
  • Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  • 3 medium carrots, scrubbed and diced (6 to 7 oz / 170 to 200g diced)
  • 6 cloves (22g) garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons (18g) preserved lemon peel, finely chopped (see Note 2)
  • 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper 1 ½ to 2 tsp for spicy
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 4 cups (960 mL) vegetable broth (see Note 3)
  • 1 cup (240 mL) water (or more broth)
  • 1 cup (200g ) green lentils (or brown lentils)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons (10 to 15g) nutritional yeast

Bouquet Garni: use kitchen twine to tie together (see Note 4)

  • 2 bay leaves
  • 8 to 10 sprigs (1.5 to 2g) thyme

For serving

  • 1 medium lemon
  • 1 cup (16g) fresh basil leaves, dill, and/or flat-leaf parsley (see Note 5)
  • Flaky sea salt
  • ½ cup (4 oz / 120g) plain-flavored yogurt (optional but recommended, see Note 6)
  • Crusty bread to serve 4 or 6

Instructions

  • Heat 2 tablespoons (28g) of olive oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high. Once shimmering, add the onion plus ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Cook until onion has softened and is golden brown, stirring occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes. If the onions brown too quickly, add a splash of water and scrape up any browned bits.
    a. While the onions cook, you can prep some of the other ingredients.
  • Add the carrots, garlic, and preserved lemon peel. Stir frequently until carrots are just starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the Aleppo pepper and coriander and stir constantly for 30 seconds. If things are browning quickly or the spices dry out, deglaze with a splash of water and lower the heat a bit.
  • Pour in a splash of broth and scrape up any browned bits. Add the remaining broth, 1 cup (240 mL) water, lentils, herb bundle, and about 10 twists of black pepper. Stir well, cover, and bring to a boil.
  • Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, or until lentils are tender, occasionally uncovering to ensure the soup isn’t bubbling rapidly (the lentils will cook unevenly).
  • While the soup simmers, make the Herb Oil: Zest the lemon. Finely chop the fresh herbs. Mix herbs and lemon zest together in a small bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons (28g) good-quality olive oil and season with two pinches of flaky sea salt. Taste, adding more olive oil or salt as desired (I like more olive oil for richness and so it becomes a looser “herb oil”).
  • While the soup simmers, make the yogurt sauce (optional): In a small bowl, mix the yogurt with 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper.
  • When the lentils are tender, scoop out the bay leaves and thyme; discard. Stir in the nutritional yeast and gently cook, uncovered, for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Taste, adding more lemon juice or salt as desired. For a richer, savory flavor, add the extra 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast.
  • Serve soup in bowls and spoon with the Herb Oil and a dollop of yogurt sauce, if using. Serve with crusty bread.

Notes

  1. The prep time assumes you multitask. Since the onions take a while to brown, I use this downtime to prep everything else: chop carrots, garlic, lemon peel, measure out spices, etc.
  2. You can include the preserved lemon flesh but remove seeds and rinse the flesh, as it’s salty. If you don’t have preserved lemons, skip this. Add 1 tablespoon lemon zest to the soup when it’s done simmering.
  3. If using low-sodium vegetable broth, you will need to add considerably more salt. Imagine Organic makes the best store-bought vegetable broth IMO, but if you want to take this soup over the top, use better than bouillon “no-chicken” broth base (start with 2 ½ teaspoons for 5 cups / 1.2 L water, then add more as desired).
  4. If you don’t have kitchen twine, just add the herbs loose (and fish them out at the end).
  5. I love using mostly basil with a little bit of dill. The basil is best when used on day 1 though, as the basil in leftover Herb Oil will blacken in the fridge.
  6. My go-to yogurts are Culina or Cocojune, which are vegan coconut-based yogurts that are creamy, tart, and have no sweet undertone. A standard thin vegan yogurt will not add much in terms of texture or flavor, so I’d skip it altogether.