Roasted Red Pepper, Lentil & Spinach Soup

Spinach is making a splash in my culinary life right now. I'm particularly interested in soups with spinach. Not cream of spinach soup but rather soups where the spinach is barely cooked, just thrown in at the end so you can really taste it.

This spinach variation on my Roasted Red Pepper & Red Lentil soup (see recipe variants below) was suggested to me by my work colleague, S.

I made a lighter version of the original recipe, reducing the lentils and eliminating the potatoes. The result was a wonderful combination I wouldn't have thought of myself! And this soup is full of healthy vegan protein!

Here's the recipe and I'd love to hear about your favorite vegetarian spinach recipe in the comments.

Roasted Red Pepper, Lentil & Spinach Soup:

1 -1/2 TBS olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tsp of ground cumin
generous pinch of cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of ground coriander
generous pinch of coriander seeds
salt
3 cups vegetable broth
2 cups of water
1/2 cup red lentils, rinsed
7.5 oz jar roasted red peppers or 2 large roasted red peppers, skinned and seeded
1/3 jalapeno, deveined and finely chopped
spinach, baby, stems removed (as much as desired!)
salt to taste


Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium-low heat. Cook the onion for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently (avoid browning) . Add the the cumin, cumin seeds, coriander, coriander seeds, and a pinch of salt and stir well. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the vegetable broth, water, red lentils and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and add the roasted red peppers and jalapeno. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until lentils loose their shape.
Remove the soup from the heat and puree using an immersion blender.

Adjust seasoning and add the spinach. Stir until wilted.




Other roasted red lentil soup recipes from Albion Cooks:

Roasted Red Pepper & Lentil Soup

Roasted Red Pepper, Lentil & Corn Soup

Red Lentil Soup with Ricotta Dumplings