The High-Fiber Soup That Became a Dinner Staple

I live in rural Pennsylvania, where there are practically no takeout or delivery services. Although I wish on busy days that I had order dinner options such as city people, it turned out that their absence is a blessing in the disguise. It forced me to develop a repertoire to healthy recipes that I can draw from scratch, no matter how short I am on time. The lemon lens & Chard soup is one of them.

What makes this soup so outstanding is that it checks all the boxes. It is delicious, nutritious and quick and easy to prepare. Since the red lentils are divided, it only takes 15 to 20 minutes to cook so that they become so soft that it falls apart.

I usually cook vegetarians for my husband and myself, so I make sure that we eat enough protein. Red lenses have a high protein and fiber content; They are also a good source of iron and other essential minerals. The Swiss chard, the other main component of the soup, is also packed with nutrients, including fiber, iron, vitamin K, lutein, potassium and antioxidants.

Swiss Swiss chard, an undisclosed hero

Red lentil soup is a classic in the Middle East, which exists in different versions. I ate and cooked many of them, but I had never encountered someone who added a leaf green. The recipe for lemon lenses & Chard soup was a perfect find, because I always look for new ways to use Swiss deficiency that I wake up in my garden every year.

Swiss Chard is in the same plant family as spinach, but much less mainstream, and I think it deserves a much larger fan community. My favorite variety is the strikingly pretty rainbow exhaust, which has stems and leaves in a variety of lively colors. All types of Swiss chard are very easy to grow even in containers, and it is fabulous productive.

I plant the seeds in spring and with minimal care it grows despite repeated harvest until the first autumn frost. Whatever I can’t use immediately, I freeze in gallon -freezel bags and give me a lot of Swiss deficiency all winter.

Since I only cook for two people, I often cut off the amounts of the recipe in half. If I want enough soup for a second meal a few days later, I do the full batch. Like all soups with legumes, it is excellent to be heated.

Increase color and taste with turmeric and saffron

My personal turn to this defect soup is to add turmeric and saffron for taste, health benefits and color. Depending on the variety and the way red lentils were processed, their color varies significantly. Some red lentils are light orange, others are colored brightly. But as soon as it is cooked, the color always fades. Turmeric and saffron come into play there. Kurkuma has anti -inflammatory properties and only takes 1 teaspoon to lighten a full amount of the soup. The same applies to saffron; I only use a pinch (approx. 4-5 strands)-be overwhelming. I add the turmeric and saffron together with the lenses.

Although they could push back at the price of saffron, it is important to use the real thing. The most expensive spice in the world costs 50 US dollars per gram or more. If you find something much cheaper, it is most likely a fake. A telltone sign that it is not true is that the strands when they immerse themselves in water immediately bleed red dye and fall apart, while real saffron remains intact and slowly bleeds. Saffran is usually imported from Iran, India, Greece or Spain. Don’t be surprised when the “USA” label says, because in recent years there has been an expansion of saffron production in the United States. Saffran is not new in North America – it was grown in The “saffroned” in Pennsylvania for centuries.

Replacement for Aleppo pepper

Another spice that the recipe requires is Aleppo Pepper, also known as Halaby Pepper. This roughly ground spice consists of deep red peppers with a complex, but rather mild, fruity and lively taste that is located in the Syrian city of Aleppo. During the Syrian civil war, serious battles increased production and made Aleppo Pepper to find more and more difficult. This should not prevent them from doing the soup because there are two good alternatives from Turkey. Marash Pepper is a little smoke and sharper than Aleppo Pepper. There are also Antebi pepper, which is more fertile and milder than Aleppo and Marash Pepper. Maybe you would like to add a little more than ½ teaspoon.

The addition of lemon juice at the end – before serving – is the key. It adds skill and holds the beautiful bright color of the Swiss deficiency. Due to the high content of oxalic acid from Swiss Chard (which it shares with rhubarb and spinach), it already has a naturally acidic taste. I only use about ¼ cup of lemon juice, half of the recipe.

With just outside the viregolive oil in every bowl and served with a piece of rustic whole grain bread, this soup is one of the best fast and satisfactory dinner I know.