Description
The most healthy, nourishing and lightly spiced soup, filled with beans, lentils and greens. Use dried or canned beans and your favorite greens, depending on what you have on hand!
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 5 garlic cloves, minced/grated
- 1-inch ginger, peeled and minced/grated
- 1 jalapeno, chopped
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked and drained
- 1/2 cup dried navy beans, soaked and drained
- 8 cups water (or vegetable stock if you want!)
- 1/2 cup lentils, rinsed (I used brown lentils, but any kind will do)
- 4 cups greens, chopped (I used spinach + collard greens)
- 3/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add 1 sliced onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until soft and golden brown, about 5-6 minutes.
- Add 4 minced garlic cloves, 1-inch minced ginger, 1 chopped jalapeno (leave out ribs and seeds if you're worried about spice) and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon garam masala and cook for another minute.
- Add beans, 2 teaspoons salt and 8 cups stock/water and bring to a boil (use less salt if using stock vs. water). Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes until beans are mostly cooked, but still have a bit of a bite to them (al dente, if you will).
- Add lentils and cook for another 25 minutes, uncovered.
- Stir in 4 cups greens and 1/2 cup cilantro and let cook for 5-10 minutes until everything is wilted and warmed through.
- Taste to make sure the beans are fully cooked (test a chickpea...those guys can be stubborn) and then add lime juice. Taste again and season salt and pepper as needed.
- Mix remaining 1/4 cup cilantro with remaining minced garlic clove and lime zest.
- Top soup with a drizzle of olive oil and cilantro-garlic mixture.
Notes
- If you're using dried beans but don't have time to soak (I like to soak for at least 6 hours), try this quick-soak method: Add beans to a pot and add water until it comes about 2 inches above beans. Bring to a boil and cook beans for 1 minute. Remove pot from heat and cover. Let beans soak for 1 hour, and then drain.
- If you're using canned beans. Add them as stated in the recipe, but include the lentils as well. The rest of the recipe will stay the same, but it'll cut down the cooking time quite a bit!
- The amount of seasoning you use will greatly depend on the ingredients you use. If you're using all stock, you'll probably need less salt than if you're using water. Same with dried beans vs. canned.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Global