This just the most delicious soup EVER! It’s from my friend Ali Godbold’s lovely recipe book ‘Feed Your Health’. I give the recipe to all my clients because it includes so many good ‘fertility’ foods but everyone loves it. The original recipe isn’t blended but, for me, smooth is best. The recipe is exactly as it says, so if you follow it, it will be perfect and it is so simple to make. I use much less olive oil to cook it with but add a good drizzle, about a tablespoon (I love olive oil – see previous blog) to my cooked soup – utterly divine and the best comfort food.
Make a big batch and freeze in bags. Use a food flask to take it to work. It is so filling it really doesn’t even need bread.
Ingredients
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 sticks celery, sliced
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
Thumb sized piece of fresh ginger
1 fresh red chilli (more if you like it spicy)
10 cherry tomatoes
1.8 litres of stock, using Marigold Bouillon
300g red lentils
200g spinach
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat a large pan and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the carrots, celery, onions and garlic and cook for approx 10 mins with the lid askew, until the carrots are softened. Meanwhile peel and grate the ginger, deseed and slice the chilli finely and slice the tomatoes in half. Add the stock to the pan with the lentils, ginger, chilli and tomatoes. Bring the soup to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for approx 10 mins with the lid on until the lentils are cooked. Add the spinach and let it wilt into the soup. Serve immediately. This is delicious with the homemade soda bread. I have also added purple sprouted broccoli instead of spinach, cooked it for about 3 minutes then blitzed the whole soup in a blender as I prefer my soups smooth.