Wow. It’s been over a year since I’ve been here (happily giving all my time to my second baby Clean Market). While my focus for creating recipes has always been easy, healthy, delicious recipes, I’ve found myself a bit more crunched for time, or just craving even more ease in the kitchen (and less cleanup). So, I’m back and hopefully you will enjoy my new take on easy recipes — moving forward you will see nearly if not all one-pot, one-sheet pan, one-skillet recipes around here. There is nothing like cooking for yourself and others and coming back to it more via these recipes has brought me so much joy.

First up is a recipe for a carmelized onion red lentil soup. I was inspired by this recipe on goop, but adjusted it to make it a bit more savory for my taste. The key is the carmelized onion at the beginning — it adds so much incredible flavor to the soup, and doesn’t take any longer since you can prep all your other veg while the onion begins to carmelize. Don’t skip it! I love enjoying this soup on its own, or with basmati rice, toasted tortillas, and lots of fresh herbs. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients
Serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 shallots, minced

3 carrots, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin (or I like to use this blend)

1/4 teaspoon coriander

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1¼ cups red lentils

4 – 6 cups vegetable broth

Several leaves of lacinato kale, destemmed and thinly sliced

1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

¼ teaspoon pepper, plus more to taste

 

Method

Heat a medium-size saucepan over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When shimmering, add the onions, a nice pinch of salt, and reduce heat to medium low.  Cook onions, stirring every few minutes to prevent them from sticking and coloring too much in any one place, until carmelized, 25 – 35 minutes. Reduce heat if they are getting too brown.

Once carmelized, optional to remove a few small spoonfuls to use as a topper for your soup. This step is for presentation so you can skip this step, and add the shallots and carrots. Cook for 5 – 7 minutes until softened.

Add the garlic, spices, another big pinch of salt, and ground pepper, cook for 1 minute. Stir the lentils in and add about 4 cups of broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 – 25 minutes until lentils are tender. Check on it while cooking and add a bit more broth or water if you prefer a thinner soup.

Stir in the kale until just wilted, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with carmelized onions. (also delicious topped with herbs, plain coconut yogurt, and served with toasted Siete tortillas).

Enjoy!