This soup recipe was a combination of several recipes I’d seen in the past and I decided that it would make for a perfect lunch soup for my work days. Living in freezing, FREEZING cold Canberra means that soups are an essential part of the winter diet – and this one is packed full of protein, complex carbs and veggies, both filling, nutritious and best of all, DELICIOUS! This soup is best served with a big piece of crusty bread. If you have the time it’s definitely worth making the No-Knead bread recipe I have posted – goes perfectly with soup!

Ingredients:

1 x 400g tin brown lentils, drained

1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained

2 x 400g tins coconut milk (light version is fine to use)

1 large brown onion, finely diced

1 large carrot, finely diced

1 large stalk celery, finely diced

1 medium red pepper/capsicum, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 large thumb-size piece ginger, finely chopped

2 hot chillies (take out seeds if you don’t want it so spicy)

4 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground tumeric

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

Salt & pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup tomato paste

6 cups water

2 teaspoons chicken stock powder (vegan)

1 lime

Fresh coriander/cilantro

Natural or greek yoghurt

Method:

In a large pot put olive oil, onion, carrot, celery and capsicum and cook until softened. Add garlic, ginger, chilies, spices and tomato paste and cook for a few minutes until fragrant. (It’s really important to cook off your spices and tomato paste – if you don’t you can end up with a “raw” taste in your soup.) Add lentils, chickpeas, coconut milk, water, stock and salt & pepper to pot and bring to a simmer.

Cook on a low temperature for 15-20 minutes until vegetables and chickpeas are soft. Add the juice of half a lime to the soup once finished cooking.

Serve soup with a big dollop of natural/greek yoghurt, a sprinkle of fresh coriander/cilantro leaves, a wedge of fresh lime and some crusty bread (homemade is best!).

Serves: 10

Can be frozen.