I feel the month of Ramadan went too fast. This is the last weekend of the the holy month and today’s wonderful guest post by Sawsan, the Chef in Disguise is the last guest post for the Ramadan series. Sawsan provides an insider’s view about Middle Eastern cuisine. She shares authentic recipes, the way they are really made in the Middle East, the way the recipes have been made for generations. As an avid lover of Middle eastern cuisine, I am a true admirer of Sawsan’s blog. Without further ado, allow me to present you, Sawsan, the chef disguised under an Orthodontist.
Ramadan kareem 🙂 I am Sawsan from Chef in disguise and it is my pleasure to be a guest here on Lail’s wonderful blog today.
I have known Lail for a few months now and I have come to know a wonderfully sweet and kind person who is dedicated to her family. Before following Lail’s blog I knew very little about Bangladeshi food. With every post she shared, I learnt a little more about her heritage. That is one of the best parts about blogging, learning about places, cultures and cuisines you would not know other wise.
When Lail asked me to do a guest post for her Ramadan series, something from Jordan or the middle east, I knew exactly what to share. This lentil soup is almost the official Ramadan soup in many homes. It is nutritious, tasty and easy to make.
After a long day spent without food, this soup makes for a wonderful nutritional boost. With about 30% of their calories from protein, lentils have the third-highest level of protein, by weight, of any legume or nut, after soybeans and hemp. Lentils also contain dietary fiber, folate, vitamin B1, and minerals. Added to that they are a good source of iron, having over half of a person’s daily iron allowance in a 100g serving.
That is why this soup is a great way to start the iftar meal. It is warm, velvety and rich without the need for cream. The color alone is so soothing. It is like liquefied sunshine! And it is good for you! All you need is a squeeze of lemon juice and a few parsley leaves and you are in for a bowl of comfort food at its best.
Going through the recipe it might surprise you that there are no spices but let me assure you that this soup needs none. The beauty of this recipe lies in its simplicity. It allows the rich, creamy taste of the slowly cooked lentils and their beautiful golden color to shine uninterrupted by anything.
- 1 cup of orange or yellow lentils
- ¼ cup olive oil, divided
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 4 cups water or stock
- Salt to taste
- For garnish and serving
- Parsley
- Lemon juice
- Pita bread
- Rinse and soak lentils in water for 1-2 hours. Drain the water off.
- In a pot heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Saute the onions until soft.
- Add the lentils and sprinkle them with 1 tablespoon of flour, stir for a couple of minutes.
- Add the water or the stock, stir to make sure that the flour dissolved completely.
- Allow the soup to come to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook for 30-40 minutes or until the lentils are cooked.
- You can adjust the stock amount depending on how thick you want the soup to be.
- When cooked, run the soup in a blender until it is completely smooth.
- Season with salt.
- Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir until completely incorporated in the soup.
- Garnish with parsley and serve with lemon wedges and pita bread gently warmed in the oven or toasted into pita chips.
Thank you Sawsan for the wonderful guest post and the soup recipe. I love the expression “liquefied sunshine” that you used to describe this soup.
My wonderful readers, if you haven’t made it to Sawsan’s blog Chef in Disguise, please make every effort to hop over and enter the wonderful world of Middle Eastern cuisine.
Looks so delicious!!!
Doesn’t it? Can’t wait to try. Thanks for stopping by.
Great spin on lentil soup!
Totally agree. Thank you.
I’ve been looking for a lentil recipe for this week! This one came right on time! love the color of those lentils too.
Thank you for stopping by Lizy. I love the color and the simplicity of this soup too.
Thank you so much Lail for having me as a guest on your wonderful blog 🙂
The pleasure is all mine, Sawsan. Thank you for the fabulous soup.
Amazing decoration. Best I have ever seen. Genious!!!!!!!!
Thank you, Afif.
Love Sawsan’s blog! And lentil soup really is the official soup of Ramadan! I love Sawsan’s very happy and sunshiny bowl of soup.
Nazneen
This looks wonderfully warming and creamy! I had no idea lentils were so high in protein – yay!
Hi Hannah – Thank you for stopping by. Lentils are one of the main sources of protein amongst vegetarians. I love this soup too.
I’m a big fan of Sawsan’s and now I have a new blog to discover! I love this soup.
Thank you, Maureen.
Interesting soup! I was surprised at the lack of spices, but Sawsan cooks such great stuff I know this must be wonderful. I love lentils, and I’m always looking for simple soup recipes, so this is perfect. Great guest post – thanks.
Thank you, John. I love this soup from Sawsan as well. I’ve always made more of the Moroccan version of the lentil soup and can’t wait to try this with my daughter. I know she would love this too.
I’m visiting from Sawsan’s blog to take a look at the recipe for the lentil soup and snoop around for new and tasty recipes. Thank you for asking here to make the guest post on your blog. I know I’ll find something else to tempt my appetite.
Thank you for coming over. I hope you’ll stop by again to discover other delicious recipes.
Love the simplicity of this soup, my kind of recipe.
Totally agree, Norma. Thank you for stopping by.
Sawson this is such a beautiful and comforting soup. On my package of lentils at home it says to soak overnight and then cook for 10 minutes. so this is a good option if I forget to do this the night before, just have to cook them longer. Take Care, BAM
Thanks for stopping by, Bam.
Love Sawsan’s posts: more than happy to copy this very simple one. It is still winter here in Australia, so there is a perfect fit somehow 🙂 ! Have subscribed to your blog also and am looking forwards to learning more and more . . .
Thank you, Eha. The lentil soup looks fabulous and on my list to try soon.
Thank you for subscribing to my blog.
what a lovely discription “liquified sunshine” – and what a new wonderful blog I found here. In our house we have a similar recipe, only living in Kerala/India it has to be spicy 🙂 – and I love it. Thank you.
Thank you.
Totally agree with you. I love the “liquified sunshine” expression a lot.
So comforting!! We love a good homemade lentil soup 🙂
Thank you, Kiran. It’s a favorite at my home too.
I`m Big Fan Of Chef In Disguise blog and This Recipes is Delicious Homemade Lentil Soup ALL MIDDLE Eastern Recipes are Great and MY Favorite Recipe is Chicken Showarma ..
I am a big fan of Sawsan’s blog too. Thank you for stopping by, Sara. Hope to see you around again.
where’s the cummin? 🙂
You mean the cumin? This version of the soup doesn’t use any.
Beautiful soup and wonderful to see you here Sawsan! I’m looking forward to getting to Lail’s blog!
Hi. I like this recipe but I have a question. Your cup size ????
Glad you like the recipe. Thank you! The cup is universal measuring cup which is a bit less than 8 oz.