Lentil and coconut soup

Lentil and coconut soup

Great for cooler evenings, this comforting vegan lentil and coconut soup will warm you up, inside and out.

We're about to enter our fifth week of lockdown, and we're now used to this new normal. Who knew there were so many hours in the day? We have so much time! I think the thing I've noticed the most is the amount of meals we get through. Usually - in what we now refer to as the olden days - we'd share one evening meal, gathered around the table hastily telling each other about our days' ups and downs. I'd often make dinner 24 hours in advance, so I could just chuck it into the oven to heat up - a great time saver when you're in a rush, but it does make the evenings stretch out. 

I no longer start my days gulping down a quick coffee and nagging the kids to hurry up or they'll be late for school. Lunch is no longer a hasty sandwich at my desk. We can no longer have cheat nights and order a takeaway for dinner. Everything has to be made from scratch. And of course, we can't always get all the ingredients we need. This is where store cupboard essentials really come into their own. 

We've always eaten a lot of lentils and chick peas, and I often cook with coconut, so I always have these ingredients in my kitchen cupboards, as well as the wonderfully versatile tins of tomatoes, which can be used in so many recipes. This lentil and coconut soup is very easy to make - it's basically a case of chucking all the ingredients together and allowing it to simmer into a deliciously thick and nourishing soup. It freezes well, so if we ever get back to the old normal, it's great for those evenings when you don't have time to make anything. 

But before that happens, let's just enjoy all the time we always longed to have.

Lentil and coconut soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp turmeric
1 medium-large carrot, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
300g tin diced tomatoes, undrained
120g dry red lentils
250 ml coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime
1.2 litres vegetable stock

1) Heat the olive oil in a saucepan on a gentle heat, and add the turmeric onion, garlic and carrot. Cook through until the onion is translucent. 
2) Add the tin of tomatoes to the pan, then add the lentils and stir well. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
3) Add the stock, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for another 20 minutes, or until the lentils and carrots are cooked through. 
4) Remove from the heat. Use a hand mixer to blitz into a soup consistency. Add the coconut milk, stir well, and add the lime juice over the top before serving. 

You can also add a teaspoon of curry powder in step 1 if you want to give the soup a bit of a kick.

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