Lentil and Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 cup dried green or brown lentils, rinsed
• 1 can (400g) chopped tomatoes
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 2 large handfuls of spinach or kale, chopped
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• Juice of half a lemon

Method

1. Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook gently for about eight minutes, until softened.
2. Stir in the garlic, cumin and smoked paprika and cook for one minute more, until fragrant.
3. Add the rinsed lentils, chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock. Stir well and bring up to a boil.
4. Lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 25 to 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender.
5. Stir through the chopped spinach or kale and cook for a further three minutes until wilted.
6. Season with salt and pepper, then brighten with a squeeze of lemon juice just before serving.

Why it earns a place on the plate

This is the kind of soup that fills the kitchen with a good smell and the fridge with leftovers. One pot, simple chopping, and a long unhurried simmer that you barely have to watch.

Lentils are the quiet hero here, lending real heartiness, plenty of fibre and plant protein so a bowl genuinely satisfies rather than leaving you reaching for more an hour later. The carrots, celery and onion build a savoury, comforting base, and the late handful of greens adds freshness and colour.

It tastes even better the next day, once the flavours have had time to settle together, which makes it a brilliant thing to cook ahead. Pair a bowl with your daily two capsules of Solva at lunch if that suits your routine.