Lentil Soup

Ope It’s Winter — Lentil Soup

Ope It's Winter -- Lentil Soup

We met Chef Salma Habib at the Minnesota State Fair and loved her Egyptian fare.  So we invited her to show us more!  She’s here to show us how to make lentil soup.

Lentil Soup

4 cups water
1 cup red lentils
1 Roma tomato, quartered
1 carrot, quartered
1 small onion, quartered
4 cloves garlic, quartered
¼ cube chicken bouillon (such as Maggi)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground coriander.

  1. Add the first 6 ingredients to a large pot; cover and bring to a boil.
  2. Lower the heat and simmer 15-20 minutes or until the lentils and veggies are tender.
  3. Take pot from stove burner and set aside.
  4. In a small saucepan, add the oil; warm over low heat until the oil is hot but not smoking.
  5. Add in the cumin, garlic, and salt; cook and stir constantly for for 2-3 minutes or until the cumin has released its fragrance (be careful not to scorch the spices).
  6. Set spice mixture aside for 1 minute to cool.
  7. Add Vermicelli in the soup at your desire. In a small pan. Add oil and a handful of vermicelli and keep stirring until it turns into gold brown color and set it aside. 
  8. Stir spice mixture and the vermicelli into the lentil mixture; stir to combine. Cilantro is optional. 
  9. You can puree the soup, in batches, in a blender OR you can use an immersion blender and blend to desired texture.
  10. lemon juice is optional.