Lentil Soup With Minted Yogurt Food

SPICED BROWN LENTILS WITH YOGURT

Steps:

• Combine the lentils, onion, garlic, bay leaf, and water in a medium soup pot or heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add salt to taste (under-salt slightly because you will be reducing the liquid), and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes, until the lentils are falling apart tender and fragrant. Remove the onion and garlic and discard.
• Heat the oil in a large, heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spices and stir as they sizzle for about 30 seconds, until very fragrant. Add the beans with their liquid and cook, stirring and mashing with the back of a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens, like refried beans. Add salt to taste, once the mixture has reduced to the desired consistency. Spoon onto plates and top each serving with a generous spoonful of yogurt and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro.

TURKISH RED LENTIL SOUP WITH MINT

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over high heat. Cook and stir the onion in the hot oil until it begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Stir the garlic into the onion and cook another 2 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes to the onion mixture; continue to cook and stir another 10 minutes.
• Pour in the chicken stock, red lentils, bulgur, rice, tomato paste, paprika, cayenne pepper, and mint to the tomato mixture; season with salt and black pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook at a simmer until the the lentils and rice are cooked through, about 30 minutes.
• Pour the soup into a blender to no more than half full. Firmly hold the lid in place and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth; pour into your serving dish. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup in cooking pot.

RED LENTIL SOUP WITH LEMON-MINT YOGURT

Steps:

• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, salt, and tomato paste. Cook, stirring often, until the onion softens and the tomato paste turns a deep brick red or brown color, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Add garlic, cumin, and cayenne; cook, stirring, for 2 more minutes. Stir in the broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the lentils, celery, and carrots.
• Stir and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentils and vegetables are very tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
• Meanwhile, grind the mint and salt into a paste using a mortar and pestle. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, and yogurt, and stir together until combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Taste the soup and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve as-is or use an immersion blender to puree about half of the soup to achieve a creamier texture. Serve hot with spoonfuls of the lemon-mint yogurt.

MOROCCAN LENTIL SOUP WITH YOGURT

Steps:

• Remove the stems from the spinach; wash the leaves thoroughly, and pat dry. Cut into thin strips. Set aside.
• Saute onion in olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until tender. Add the sliced carrot and garlic, and saute, stirring constantly, until crisp-tender. Add the chicken broth and the next 13 ingredients (up to the salt -- leave out the noodles, reserved spinach, and yogurt). Bring to a boil. Partially cover, and reduce heat. Simmer 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
• Stir in the reserved spinach and noodles; cook, partially covered, 7 minutes or until noodles are done. (Depends on the noodles you picked!). Remove and discard the bay leaf.
• Ladle soup into individual bowls. Top each serving with a dollop of yogurt.

LENTIL SOUP WITH MINTED YOGURT

Steps:

• Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat.
• Add onions, carrots and garlic and saute until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
• Add curry, then lentils and stir 2 minutes.
• Add nine cups of broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender, adding more broth if soup is too thick and stirring occasionally, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Season with pepper.
• Whisk yogurt, mint, cilantro, and basil in a small bowl to blend. Season herbed yogurt with pepper. Cover separately and chill.
• Ladle soup into bowls. Spoon generous dollops of herbed yogurt atop soup and serve.