Smoky Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup

When I saw Bryanna’s soup I knew I wanted to make my own version of it. I changed the soup a little because I was in mood for something Spanish inspired soup last night. I ran out of time to post this last night.

I love the texture of this soup. Be warned I tried using my immersion blender first and ended up with the Vitamix for the perfect creamy texture. Next time I will start with the Vitamix so I only have one appliance to clean.

We love sweet potatoes and I make a lot of version of sweet potato soup. Since the spuds we buy are organic I leave the skins on for added nutrition. The Vitamix has no difficulty chewing through them. Sweet potato skins do muddy the color of the soup a little, but the nutrition is more important to me. I omitted celery (a typical aromatic) since I thought that would result in a much more brown soup. You could add some fresh fennel bulb if you have it on hand for a similar flavor. Here is what I did.

Smoky Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup
Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 large red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 large carrots, scrubbed and cut into chunks
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
water to sweat vegetables (about a ½ cup)
2 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks
1 ½ cups red lentils, sorted and rinsed
14 ounces tomato sauce
water to cover
1 teaspoon smoked paprika, or to taste
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
4 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted
4 tablespoons parsley, finely minced

Directions:

Water sauté the onions, carrots and garlic over high heat until soft. Add the sweet potatoes, lentils, tomato sauce and enough water to cover the vegetables. Turn the heat to medium and cook until the sweet potatoes and lentils are soft.

Place the soup in your blender in batches for a velvety soup. I initially tried using my immersion blender and wasn’t satisfied with the texture and ended up putting the soup in the blender.

Return the pureed soup to the pot over low heat. Add the smoked paprika, salt, black pepper and sherry vinegar.

To serve, top the soup with sliced almonds and minced parsley. I also dusted the top with a little smoked paprika for color.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 249.95
Calories From Fat (12%) - 29.12

Total Fat - 3.49g
Saturated Fat - 0.38g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 559.38mg
Potassium - 740.38mg
Total Carbohydrates - 45.2g
Fiber - 9.14g
Sugar - 6.32g
Protein - 12.66g

Comments:

I loved the texture of this soup it was smooth and creamy like my broccoli and white bean soup. The flavor of this soup is hard to pin down. I couldn’t taste any tomato flavor but like the antioxidants it added. Almonds and parsley added a lot to this soup in terms of crunch and freshness. My husband thought this reminded him of barbecue, I think it was the smokiness from the paprika.

Each serving of this soup contains over 14,000IU of vitamin A, 90mcg of folate, and 180mg of phosphorus. The best part of making a big pot of soup is that we can have it for lunch with a salad for the rest of the week.

There may not be many posts today since today is cooking class. I will post again tonight if I have anything interesting to share. Otherwise, I will be back tomorrow. I hope you all have a great day.