Spinach Dahl Soup

This spinach dahl soup is naturally low fat, gluten free and packed with good things for your body. It’s the perfect soup for these cold winter miserable days.

JUMP TO RECIPE

Hello 2018! I can’t believe it’s January already – where did 2017 go? I hope you had a great Christmas and New Year. We had a very chilled family Christmas Day, the four of us and Mum and Dad. A lovely relaxed day full of fun and no stress … well, other than at breakfast when I was trying to get the turkey in the oven and feed two children. So all the stress was done by 7.30am. I call that a result. The rest of the day was gorgeous. We had a great New Year’s Eve too, with friends and lots of lovely family time in between. Such precious stuff.

Now it’s back to normality, back to the hum drum that is January. Back to non-celebratory food. Enter my spinach dhal soup. If you feel you might have over eaten at Christmas (me too!), this soup is for you. If you want something nourishing and comforting, this soup is for you. If you need some punchy bold flavours and bright colours to get you through the gloom of winter, this soup is for you. If you are after a soup that takes just 10 minutes prep and then 20 minutes low maintenance cooking, this soup is for you too.

What is it about Christmas? I tried so hard this year not to over eat, not to stuff my face – but it was beyond me, just beyond me. So much good food, so much rich indulgent food, it’s too hard to resist. I used to work with someone who would pretty much starve himself through December so that when Christmas came he could indulge without guilt. I might try this next year. But this soup is my current salvation. The only fat is 1 tbsp of oil, so it’s seriously low fat. It’s also naturally gluten free. The red lentils make this soup high in fibre and protein. The spinach means it’s high in iron and vitamin A. It’s also got a good whack of turmeric which lots of super healthy types seem to be raving about these days.

This spinach dahl soup is packed with flavour. The ginger, garlic, optional chilli, cumin and coriander see to that. This is a soup that will help clear your nose without being too spicy. It’s gently warming on the spice front rather than full blown spicy. Imagine your favourite Indian meal in a soup. The bright yellow of the turmeric and dark green of the spinach and coriander make a wonderful contrast to the general grey and cold of January.

This soup is also seriously easy to make. Finely dice the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli and fry. Then add the spices and fry again, pour in the lentils and stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Then add the spinach and just before you serve, sprinkle on the coriander. That’s it, super easy and all in 30 minutes. Really there are only 15 minutes where you need to be on it with the soup; after that just let it simmer away. It’s also great for freezing but leave out the coriander as it can get a bit yucky frozen in liquid. Just add the fresh coriander once it’s reheated before you serve it. It’s also a really easy recipe to scale up if you need to feed a crowd or want to fill the freezer for later. Like most good soups, it just requires one pot.

Have I convinced you? Treat yourself and your taste buds and make this spinach dahl soup.

Spinach Dahl Soup

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

The flavours develop in this soup if you eat it the day after you have made it. My palate doesn’t need any salt in this soup, but yours may.

• Author: Holly
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 1 tsp oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 40g or a knob of ginger, peeled and finely diced
• 1 chilli red or green, deseeded and finely diced (optional)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 250g red lentils
• 1200ml vegetable stock
• 100g fresh spinach
• 15g coriander, stalks removed roughly chopped

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan heat the oil. Once hot, fry the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli with the lid on for 5 minutes. Add the ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric and fry again for 2 minutes.
2. Add the red lentils and vegetable stock and simmer for 15 minutes, until the lentils are soft. Check the seasoning and add salt to your taste.
3. Add the fresh spinach and stir well. Before serving stir in most of the coriander, leaving some to sprinkle on top.

Notes

You can use split peas instead of red lentils in this recipe.  The split peas and stock will need to simmer for about an hour or until the splits are tender.

Want dahl rather than soup then just half the quantity of stock.