“Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.” – Ludwig van Beethoven
Hi and Happy Friday from the ridiculously hot UAE 🙂
I landed back in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday morning to be reunited with my fur babies after a trip back to the UK and the cold weather and blustery winds gave me major soup cravings. I bought some veggie soup and had a can on yesterday at work which was ok, but what I really wanted was some good, thick and hearty homemade soup – yum. I am also trying to shift some post holiday pounds (urgh) so soup it is.
Buying vegan soup isn’t that hard if you have time to read labels, as I have found not a lot of the well known brands highlight if their soup is vegan friendly or not. A lot of soups use chicken stock as a base (even veggie soups) and to give the soup a creamy texture and taste there usually is some dairy in there too.
Lentil soup is one of my favs and seems to be quite common out here in the UAE. I love how versatile lentils are (check out my Vegan Mushroom & Lentil Shepherds pie recipe here) and they also are a great source of protein (since vegans lack the stuff so much 😉 ) proving 18g per cup of cooked lentils. They will also work well with ‘operation-loose-the-holiday-weight’ as a cup only contains 230 calories and 0.8g of fat. Oh – this vegan lentil soup is so easy to make – sold. Not much smells better than homemade soup cooking and both Nala & Zara sat in the kitchen and stared at the pot the whole time it was on the hob.
So if you are craving a big bowl of soup why not try this dairy free recipe? Low fat, high protein and most importantly cruelty free. I blended half of the soup for a smoother texture and it was delicious. The only think that was missing was some warm bread which I can’t have on my diet 🙁 I hope you all have a fab weekend, I am spending mine in the gym! – Jess x
- 3 cup of dry lentils (I recommend green or brown)
- 3 carrots (chopped into cubes)
- 1 white onion (chopped)
- 2 - 3 gloves of garlic (peeled and minced)
- 6 cups of veggie stock (I used two cubes)
- 1 tbsp. coconut oil
- 2 cups of almond milk (unsweetened)
- 2 handfuls of chopped fresh parsley
- Salt & pepper to season
- Heat the coconut oil in a large soup pot and saute the onion, carrots and garlic until the onion starts to brown
- Add the lentils, stock, almond milk and parsley and simmer on a high heat for 45 minutes
- Blend if you prefer a smoother texture and add more stock if the soup is too thick
- Season and serve - enjoy!