Lentil and tomato soup

Another veggie staple today: a quick and tasty lentil soup.

I must confess, I came pretty late to the lentil world. To me they were just those orange things you put into soups and stews to thicken them, but not much else. But after experimenting with green and brown lentils a few years ago I now really love them. Brown lentils in particular are a great alternative in any recipe where you'd use mince: shepherds pie, soups, stews, even a good old British spag bol! Even if you eat meat, add half meat and half lentils, a good way to reduce fat and increase nutrients

Lentils can also be incredibly cheap. Ethnic food shops are the best place to buy staples like lentils, rice and spices. I buy a huge bag of brown lentils from a local African shop for only a few pounds.

Lentil & Tomato Soup

Like most of my recipes this is just something I knocked up on the fly with what I had available, it takes about 30 minutes. Taste it yourself and see if it needs anything more. I used fresh tomatoes as I had them available - it makes a lighter soup than tinned, either is fine.

A good stock is vital to the success of any soup, and this recipe has a couple of unusual secret ingredients that make it really special. The first is miso paste which I got from an Asian supermarket. It makes a delicious savoury hot drink but is very good as a vegetable stock for beefing up the flavour of soups. If you don't have it, just add another spoon of vegetable stock powder. Swiss Marigold is by far the best.

The sweet soy sauce was a random experiment, but it's delicious and definitely brings out the flavour of the tomatoes. Substitute a sprinkling of sugar if you don't have it.

• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 2 handfuls of brown lentils
• 4 large tomatoes (or a tin of chopped)
• 1 tbsp miso paste
• 1 tsp Swiss Marigold vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• 500 ml boiling water

1. If using fresh tomatoes, steep them in boiling water for a few minutes to remove the skin, and chop into rough chunks
2. Chop the onions and carrot into small chunks. Not too fine, you want to see pieces in the soup.
3. Slosh some oil into a saucepan and fry the carrots and onions on a gentle heat for a few minutes until pale. 
4. Meanwhile, make a stock with 500ml of boiling water, the miso paste, vegetable stock and sweet soy sauce and bay leaf. (If necessary strain the stock, miso often has bits of soybean in, depending on brand.)
5. Add the garlic and paprika, stir for a minute then add the tomatoes.
6. Top up with the stock, bring to a boil then put on the lid and simmer.
7. Cook for 20-30 minutes until the lentils are tender. Top up with boiling water if it gets too thick.
8. Do a final check for seasoning, then serve hot with a sprinkle of parmesan on top!

Variations: Add chopped celery with the carrots and onion if you like, I didn't have any. Chopped parsley or basil add a note of freshness, add right at the end of cooking.

Tips

Whenever I make a soup, I make a batch and freeze the leftovers. I always have numerous plastic containers (from the pound shop), just pop a portion or two in each container, then you'll have fresh soup to take to work or pop into the microwave.