A healthy, filling soup for these chilly fall days.
Ingredients (*See Notes below about optional protein-rich additions)
1 lb. sweet potato peeled and cubed into small pieces (weigh it raw)
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 cups dry green or brown lentils
1 ½ teaspoon EACH coriander AND cumin powder
1 teaspoon curry powder (or more to taste)
½ teaspoon EACH smoked paprika, ground cinnamon, AND turmeric
â…› teaspoon ground nutmeg
11 cups low sodium broth bone broth (divided)
2 ½ cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
Lemon wedges for serving
Optional: Greek yogurt, pita bread, parsley, cilantro
Instructions:
Place the sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, red bell pepper, garlic, lentils, spices, and 10 cups of broth into a slow cooker. Cover and cook on the low setting for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. Instant Pot will get this done in 8 minutes
Place half the soup into a blender along with a little additional broth (½ cup -1 cup) and blend till smoothish. Alternately, you can use an immersion blender directly in the slow cooker but be sure to not blend all of the soup if you want it to have a chunkier texture. Add the puree back into the slow cooker.
Stir in the baby spinach, olive oil and lemon juice. Cover the slow cooker, unplug it, and allow the ingredients to just hang out for 30 minutes or so until the spinach wilts down.
Season with salt, pepper and curry powder to taste as desired. Thin with additional broth or water to desired consistency. Serve warm with whipped greek yogurt, fried pita bread, and tons of fresh herbs (parsley or cilantro) on top!
*Notes:
MORE PROTEIN: You can sauté 1 pound of ground lamb, beef, chicken, or turkey and add it in with all the other ingredients to the slow cooker for a more protein-filled meal - note that you may need a little bit more of each of the seasonings to balance flavors when adding protein. Recipe changes to 8 servings
