Red lentil, tomato & spinach soup with coriander and cumin

Super warming soup for a cold winters day…..

Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 40-50 mins Serves - 6

Ingredients:

• 2 tbls of avocado oil

• 1 large onion – finely chopped

• 2 sticks of celery – finely chopped

• 1 large carrot – finely diced

• 3 cloves of garlic chopped

• 300g red lentils – thoroughly rinsed

• 1 & ½ liters of homemade chicken stock

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 tsp of turmeric (powder or fresh)

• 1 inch of grated fresh ginger

• 1 & ½ tsp of cumin seeds

• 1 & ½ tsp of coriander seeds

• Salt and pepper

• 3 cups of spinach

• 1 x 400g of chopped tinned tomatoes

• A bunch of fresh coriander to serve

 Method

• In a large stock pot, heat the oil over a medium heat and add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic and sweat them gently for about 10 – 15 minutes without colouring.

• Add the lentils and spices and stir.

• Add the stock, stir, and bring to a gentle simmer, lower the heat and cook for 20 mins.

• Add the tomatoes and spinach and cook for a further 15 minutes.

• Remove the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.

• Allow to cool a little and move to a blender and whizz to a consistency of your liking (I don’t like mine completely smooth – so I blitz in the Thermomix for about 5 seconds on 5 – which gives the consistency you see in the photo).

• Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with fresh coriander and serve.

Enjoy.