It’s been miserably cold in New York – and in many other parts of the country – recently. For two weeks straight after Christmas the temperature never went above freezing, with wind chills sometimes making it feel like 0F or colder. On top of that, in the first week of the new year we were hit with a “bombogenesis” that combined 11 inches of snow with hurricane-force winds. With all of this going on, we’ve been looking for foods to warm us and make us forget about the bone-chilling weather – so we’ve been cooking up a lot of soups. On the day the snow hit, we were safely inside making this tomato lentil soup (from a recipe we found in Bon Appétit). It was pretty easy to put together, and it also happens to be vegan. Basically, it was the prefect nourishment for a day stuck at home.
If you’d like to make it, you’ll need:
- An onion
- Garlic
- A small piece of ginger
- Curry powder
- Red pepper flakes
- Dry lentils
- A 14.5-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
- Cilantro
- A 13.5-ounce can of coconut milk
- Limes
First, finely chop your onion and sauté it with 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Once it’s softened (which should take 8-10 minutes), peel and grate half of your ginger piece into the pot along with 2 chopped garlic cloves and a tablespoon of curry powder. Add in red pepper flakes too – we used a teaspoon’s worth, which was nicely spicy, but if you want a more mild soup measure out only 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon.
Cook all of this for about 2 minutes, then add in 3/4 cup of dry lentils and let them heat up for a minute.
Then pour in all of the crushed tomatoes, 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro, 2 1/2 cups of water, and the entire can of coconut milk. Let this mixture come to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer it for 20-25 minutes.
You’ll know the soup is done when the lentils are softened but not squishy.
Cut some limes up into wedges and chop more of the cilantro, them serve these on top of the soup.
Like we said, pretty easy. The lentils elevate what would be a basic tomato soup into something more hearty, and the curry, cilantro, and red pepper flakes give it some interesting flavors. Plus, the coconut milk makes it creamy without relying on dairy. If you’re looking for something warm, easy, and nourishing, we’d definitely recommend this soup to help get you through the winter.