It’s no secret to anyone that I’ve talked to recently (my coworkers, my friends, my soon-to-be-bride friend) that I’m on a last-ditch effort to detox (and shed pounds) before the wedding. So I found what seemed to be a relatively easy two-week program from everyone’s favorite quack doctor whom I happen to love (Dr. Oz) and I enlisted my coworkers to help support my efforts (i.e. make them join me on this non-dairy, non-caffeine, non-sugar, non-wheat, non alcohol journey).
I don’t want to brag or anything but I’ve had mild success the first few days. I’m so fulfilled by the daily smoothie and my lunch comprised of ½ cup of brown rice, 6 ounces lean ground turkey, onions, garlic and roasted cherry tomatoes that I’m barely hungry by dinner. Which is good because my dinner this week has been a bit lackluster. I made a pretty good lentil, mushroom and kale stew but got sick of it after three days. Since you can eat unlimited amount of lentils and low-GI veggies on this diet, I decided to find a different recipe that incorporated a different kind of lentil. Bonus that the recipe contained turmeric because I’m mildly obsessed with the stuff.
The main annoyance with this recipe is chopping up the veggies. Other than that you kind of throw things into the pot in steps and then let the pot simmer once you’ve added the lentils and 20 minutes later – Voila! You’ve got yourself some lentil soup (after you’ve blended half the ingredients and then poured them back in).
So I said earlier that this recipe has turmeric, which I love. It also has cumin, which I also love, and smoked paprika. I about doubled or tripled the turmeric and smoked paprika. You should feel free to play around with the spices and adjust them to your preference. That’s what cooking for yourself is about, right?
Since I had made about 12 pints of detox broth that have gone unused the entire week, I used three of them to make this soup.
I’m crossing my fingers I don’t get sick of this soup after three meals in a row. If I do, I’ll shove it in the freezer for another time (or for when my dad comes to visit) and move onto the next meal!
Recipe adapted from delish knowledge website.
ingredients.
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 head of garlic, chopped or minced
- 3 celery sticks, chopped
- 1 yellow or orange pepper, chopped
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 2 tsp. ground turmeric
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- 2 tsp. smoked paprika
- pinch salt/pepper
- 6 c. vegetable broth (I used the detox broth!)
- 1 ½ cups red lentils
- 1 14.5-oz can plum tomatoes in juices
- smoked paprika for garnish
directions.
- Heat 1 tsp. olive oil over medium heat in a large sauce pan.
- Add the onion and let cook for 5 minutes until soft.Add the garlic, celery, and pepper. Cook until soft and lightly browned, another 2-3 minutes.Add the cumin, turmeric, ground ginger, paprika and salt/pepper and stir until fragrant.Add the vegetable broth, lentils, and canned tomatoes and bring to a simmer.
- Cover and cook for 20 minutes and cook until lentils are tender.
- Remove from heat and puree ½ of the soup using either a blender or immersion blender. Add back in the ½ of the soup and stir in the herbs and lemon juice.
- Season to taste with salt/pepper if needed and serve.
Food Snob 