Description
This comforting bowl of butternut squash lentil soup is hearty, warming and nutrient-dense. Meal prep in advance for an easy cozy meal whenever you need it.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 medium red onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 6 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 inches ginger, grated
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp dry thyme
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1/2 a medium butternut squash, cubed (about 2 1/2-3 cups)
- 1 cup French lentils, rinsed
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- Salt and pepper to taste
For serving
- Lemon wedges
- Avocado
Instructions
- Place a large pot over medium heat, add your oil and warm it through. To the pot, add your onions along with a pinch of salt and sauté until the onions have softened, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in the bell pepper and sauté until softened, then add the garlic and ginger and cook for about a minute until fragrant.
- Add in the tomato paste and continuously stir in the pot for about 4-5 minutes until it starts to go from a bright red to a darker orange-red color. Stir in the turmeric, coriander and thyme and give a good mix to combine.
- Toss in the diced tomato and cook down until softened. Add the butternut squash, lentils, vegetable broth then stir well and add the bay leaf.
- Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover and cook for 20 minutes until the lentils and butternut squash has softened.
- Remove the bay leaf and stir in the cilantro. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to your liking. Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and some avocado slices.
Notes
Make sure to pick over your lentils. Spread the lentils out on a clean surface and comb over them to pick off any rocks or big pieces of debris before rinsing well under water.
Customize the vegetables to your liking. For example, you can leave out the bell pepper and stir in some spinach instead.
Sauté the tomato paste. Allow the tomato paste to cook down until it starts to turn from a bright red to a darker orange-red color. Cooking the tomato paste like this will caramelize it, which will help add more depth of flavor to your soup.
If the soup tastes acidic, add a teaspoon of a sweetener like maple syrup to help balance the tone of the soup.
Adding pepper to this soup will help you absorb 20x more of the curcumin (a potent antioxidant) from the turmeric.
