Curried Spinach, Chickpea and Red Lentil Soup

This post starts with an ode to my favorite recipe website: Gojee!

I wanted to make a Food Network Indian recipe - either Chicken & Cashew Curry or Cardamom Chicken Curry.  But BF had had chicken for lunch and didn't want another meal of meat + sauce.

Quick, to the kitchen!  What can we do with what we've got?  What have we got that needs doing?

Red lentils are a friend of mine in that they're very quick to cook (unlike many of their rainbow-hued cousins) and a filling source of protein.  Pop that into the recipe engine at Gojee and voila!  A soup that looks quick, easy and tasty, and uses ingredients we already have.  PS, quick plug of Gojee - it's a free, registration-required recipe "curator" tool that mines the food blogs for recipes.  You can search for recipes including a certain ingredient, permanently cut out things you "don't like" (which can be great for dietary restrictions, too), and there's a "crave" feature too.  It's a cool place.  If you're ever in a bind for what to make, you should check it out.

The recipe calls for Swiss chard, but we had some spinach sitting around that was days away from wilting so used that instead.  Besides, Swiss chard?  In Ghana?  Hmmm...

This soup is spicy, hearty and healthy.  It's super easy and quite fast to boot.  The cool yogurt is a wonderful addition - it's a perfect use for that thicker-than-Greek labneh I talked about earlier.  But it's great without, too.  And that would even make it vegan.

Curried Chickpea, Red Lentil and Spinach Soup

adapted from Fresh 365, in turn adapted from Bon Appetit
serves 4-6
prep time:
cook time:

ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 pound spinach, chopped, stems (if included) and leaves separated
5 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp salt
1 cup carrots, coarsely chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups red lentils
15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
plain yogurt

directions:

In large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and spinach stems.  Sauté until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in curry, cayenne and salt. Add spinach leaves, carrots, broth and water, stir, and bring to a boil. Add lentils and chickpeas. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender, about 12 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, ladle into soup bowls and top with yogurt.

The leftovers are amazing, too.