Traditional Egyptian Black Lentil Soup

This is a great recipe inspired by traditional Egyptian cooking with tips on healthy additions you can make once and eat from 2-3 times. You can make it using a regular stove-top or a slow cooker.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. coconut oil or ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup diced celery
• ½ tsp. ground cumin
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1¼ cups black lentils
• 5 cups vegetable broth, or as needed
• 1/4 cups chopped parsley
• 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Heat coconut oil or ghee in a large pot over medium heat. Add in onion, carrot, celery, and salt; cook and stir until onion is softened and translucent, about 10 minutes. Season with black pepper, cumin, thyme, and cayenne pepper.
2. Pour lentils into mixture and stir to coat completely in oil/ghee. Add vegetable broth and bay leaf; bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook, adding more broth as needed, until lentils are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
3. Season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. Add 3 tablespoons parsley and stir. Serve soup in bowls, sprinkle remaining parsley over the top and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.

*Basic recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Slow Cooker Version

1. In a slow cooker, combine the onion, carrots, and celery, lentils, cumin, bay leaf, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.
2. Stir in the vegetable broth.
3. Cook on LOW until the lentils are tender, 8 to 10 hours.
4. Optional: transfer the soup to a blender and let cool for about 15 minutes.
5. Pour the mixture back into the slow cooker. Stir in parsley.

Play with it:

• Add a little garlic, turmeric and ginger (anti-infammtory) to the mix
• Add diced tomatoes or organic tomato paste
• Add chipotle peppers
• Add sweet potato for added root vegetables
• Top with avocado, lemon juice and parsley

You can cook once and eat 2-3 times with this recipe by:

• Have it as a blended soup
• Keep it whole and have it with a side-dish of salad greens
• Keep it whole or blended and have it over quinoa or rice

Disclaimer: My recipes and suggestions are what have served me well and made me feel my best. This information is for general purposes only. It is not intended to treat, cure or prevent any disease or medical conditions. You should seek the care of your doctor before starting a new exercise routine or before changing other dietary or lifestyle habits. A health coach is not a licensed nutritionist, registered dietician or medical professional