What I’ve learned about making Lentil Soup:

🍲SOAK & SLOW COOK
Orange lentils used to give me gas. A LOT. of gas. I thought it was an incompatibility issue with my gut. Turns out, I just wasn’t preparing lentils properly! Previously I would cook them from pantry to plate in 20 minutes. My Healing Diets studies have since taught me the importance of soaking and slow cooking on low heat. An 8-hour soak followed by an hour-long simmer on the stove creates a creamy stew that is much easier to digest. No more farty pants!

🧄GARLIC, ONION, SPICES
I’d normally chuck the onion, garlic and spices straight into the pot and have all of it cook together with the lentils. Another option I’ve learned is cooking these in a pan, separate from the soup. I’d heat up a generous amount of olive oil in a pan, cook the powders of cumin, coriander and ginger for a minute, then put in chopped onion, garlic and salt and cook for about 10 minutes or until browning starts at the edges. I’d then put small dollops of this on my soup just before serving. The sweet caramelisation plus earthiness of cooked spices adds different layers of taste, compared to a mellow assimilation of all the flavours if cooked together.

🍋LIFT WITH CITRUS
Stirring in a tiny bit of acid to the soup just as I turn off the heat sharpens the flavours without stealing the show itself. If I don’t have lemon or lime, I substitute with apple cider vinegar. Putting in the acid towards the end of cooking makes sure that it stays unchanged by heat and the brightness of it remains. I let it sit for 5 minutes for the acid to ‘marinate’ the soup, and when I feel like it, add a sprinkle of citrus zest right before serving for a beautiful gourmet touch.

I rounded this serving off with chopped cilantro, smoked paprika and a swirl of coconut cream.