Red Lentil & Caramelized Onion Soup

Name: Red Lentil & Caramelized Onion Soup
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided; 2 onions (1 chopped and 1 thinly sliced); 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped; 2 cups chopped carrots (about 4 carrots); 2 cups red lentils; 8 cups water; ½ teaspoon ground turmeric; ¼ cup lime juice; ¼ teaspoon salt; Freshly ground pepper to taste; 2 hard-boiled eggs (see Tip), sliced; 10 snow peas, blanched and cut into thin strips; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Rating: 2 stars

3 Ratings
3 Reviews

Fresh lime juice balances out the creamy, mellow sweetness of this pureed lentil and carrot soup. Caramelized onions, crisp snow peas, cilantro and sliced hard-boiled eggs are a flavorful and beautiful topping. Serve with warm whole-wheat naan or roti bread. Source: EatingWell Magazine, March/April 1995

Bharti Kirchner

Gallery

Directions

Step 1

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and jalapeno; cook, stirring often, until the onion starts to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add carrots, lentils and water. Bring to a boil. Add turmeric, cover and simmer until the carrots and lentils are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

Advertisement
Step 2

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add sliced onion and cook, stirring often, until it turns medium brown, about 10 minutes.
Step 3

Transfer the lentil mixture to a food processor or blender and puree, in batches if necessary, until smooth. Add a little water if necessary. (Use caution when pureeing hot liquids.) Return the puree to the pot. Stir in lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
Step 4

Ladle the soup into bowls. Top each serving with sauteed onions, egg slices and snow peas and sprinkle with cilantro.

Tips

Tip: To hard-boil eggs, place in a single layer in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and cook at the barest simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, pour out hot water and cover with ice-cold water. Let stand until cool enough to handle before peeling.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:

449 calories; 7.5 g total fat; 1.5 g saturated fat; 93 mg cholesterol; 243 mg sodium. 1394 mg potassium; 69.7 g carbohydrates; 25.1 g fiber; 11 g sugar; 29.7 g protein; 10985 IU vitamin a iu; 25 mg vitamin c; 541 mcg folate; 120 mg calcium; 10 mg iron; 125 mg magnesium; 1 mg thiamin;

Exchanges:

2 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 fat

Reviews (3)

Read More Reviews

3 Ratings

5 star values: 0
4 star values: 1
3 star values: 0
2 star values: 0
1 star values: 2

Reviews: Most Helpful

Most Helpful Most Positive Least Positive Newest

EatingWell User

03/09/2013

Tasty with some tweaking Contrary to the other review posted here I found this to be a light yet filling and flavorful soup with just some minor tweaking. I followed the recipe to the letter with the following two exceptions: adding half of a red bell pepper (chopped) in with the carrots and lentils just because I had it and wanted to use it somehow and NOT doing the snow pea and egg topping. That is the one thing I can agree with the other reviewer on: omit the toppings from the recipe entirely they are a bad fit for this otherwise delicious soup. Other than that the tweaks made were: added a smidge more tumeric than called for probably added more salt than listed in the recipe (I salt to taste with soups these days) and I like my food spicier so I added some (1 tsp.?) Spice Island Spicy Curry Powder (an inauthentic cop-out I know) as well as some habanero hot sauce. Neither made this even remotely close to outrageously hot but I do think it added some depth especially with the Spicy Curry Powder. If one likes thicker more-like-pea-soup soup I would say maybe cook off a little more water or don't add the full 8 cups in at the beginning. While it was thinner than I might've been expecting it was not a bad thing nor did it detract from the flavor. Also I don't know what kind of lentils the other reviewer was using but if you are using red lentils it definitely should not be brown... especially given the bright yellow tumeric. And yes caramelizing onions rea Read More

sylvia.and.wilbert@gmail.com

07/17/2012

Why do recipe writers lie and lie and lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? It takes 30-40 minutes to brown onions: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/scocca/2012/05/how_to_cook_onions_why_recipe_writers_lie_and_lie_about_how_long_they_take_to_caramelize_.html Read More

EatingWell User

02/26/2012

Worst thing I ever ate This was a waste of time and money. It had a very unappetizing runny brown look. It tasted bland. The ingredients were so random and awful it was practically gag-inducing. Why in the world would you top this tasteless brown mess with hard boiled eggs onions and snap peas of all things? I thought it would all come together somehow but the recipe turned out far worse than I could have imagined. I ended up literally flushing the entire pot down the toilet. Healthy soup doesn't have to be this disgusting. Pros: Healthy Cons: Looks terrible tastes worse than it looks Read More

Back to Red Lentil & Caramelized Onion Soup

All Reviews for Red Lentil & Caramelized Onion Soup

- of Reviews

Account

More