Golden Soup

One of my favourite things about winter is being able to cook more lovely nourishing soups. Pumpkin soup is a definite favourite in our house, so I’ve given it a bit of a protein boost with some red lentils, to make this soup a super healthy and hearty meal. Lentils are also high fibre, for good bowel health, and zinc, which helps strengthen the immune system to fight off infections. Make an extra big batch so you can freeze some for meals during the week.

Prep time    : 15 mins     Cook time   :20 mins       Serves   : 4

Ingredients	Quantity
Carrots	2 large
Red pumpkin	2 cups
Apple	1 no
Sweet corn	Small piece
Toor dal	2 tbsp
Masoor dal	2 tbsp
Vegetable stock	2 cups
Orange juice	¼ cup
Oil	½ tsp
Garlic cloves	5 ns
Red chilli powder	½ tsp
Ground pepper& cumin	½ tsp
Paprika	½ tsp
Onion	1 large
Cilantro	To serve

Method:

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Spray with olive oil spray. Add the onion and cook, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and masala powder and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until aromatic.2. Add the pumpkin,carrot,apple, lentils, and vegetable stock.Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, partially covered, for 15-20 minutes or until the pumpkin and lentils are soft. Set aside to cool.Stir the lentils, ground black pepper, salt, cumin, chili powder occasionally. 3. Working in batches, pour the soup into a blender. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. 4. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pan.Return the pureed soup to the cooking pot. Bring back to a simmer over medium-high heat, about 10 minutes. Now finally pour orange juice with little water to the soup to your preferred consistency. Garnish with cilantro and paprika.Enjoy your soup.

 Notes:

Pumpkin is a wonderfully rich source of beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A by the body. Beta-carotene is a powerful antioxidant and immune enhancer.

If you avoid orange juice, garnish with yogurt.The Yoghurt has no fat compared to alternatives like coconut milk or cream, but still gives a lovely smooth texture.

Add more stock for a thinner consistency, more vegetables and/or lentils for a thicker consistency. Add other vegetables, such as green peas towards the end of cooking for added colour and texture.