Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup

Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup from Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a comforting and delicious soup full of creamy lentils, toasty spices, and fragrant rice. If you use vegetable broth, the soup is completely vegetarian but it is still quite filling and hearty making it the perfect dish for chilly winter evening. Plus, once all of the ingredients are added, the soup barely requires any attention for 40 minutes, which gives you time to get complete other tasks.


Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup
Gluten Free
Serves Three

Ingredients--
1 teaspoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 cup carrots, finely diced
1/2 cup dried red lentils*
1/4 cup brown basmati rice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3- 3.5 cups vegetable broth or low sodium chicken broth, check for gluten
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt & Pepper

1. Add the olive oil to a medium pot and heat to medium low heat. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute.  Pour in 1 tbsp. of broth, then stir in 1/4 tsp. pepper, 1/2 tsp. salt, cumin, and coriander. Stir the spices continuously for 30 seconds.

2. Stir  in the carrots, lentils, rice, lemon zest, and 3 cups of broth. Raise the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once it's boiling, reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Allow soup to simmer for about 40 minutes, or until the rice is tender and lentils are creamy, stirring occasionally.

3. Once the rice and lentils, are cooked through, taste for seasoning and spice. Let soup simmer uncovered , for 5- 10 minutes to allow the flavors to meld, stirring occasionally. If soup seems too thick, add additional broth.

4. Just before serving, stir in lemon juice, and taste for any final seasoning adjustments. Ladle into three serving bowls and enjoy!

(In the picture above, I garnished my soup with hot sauce which is quite nontraditional but also quite tasty!)

Nutrition Information--approximately 230 calories per serving (1/3 of the recipe)

* Red lentils can be a little difficult to find but they are worth the effort since they are much creamier than the traditional brown or green lentil. Because of their different consistencies, you can't really substitute different types of lentils in this recipe, however, you can find red lentils in many major super markets (often in the organic dry goods section) or any health food store.