Spring Veggie Lentil Soup
One of the best ways to incorporate nutrient-dense meals into your diet is by eating seasonally. This spring veggie lentil soup is best made in the spring when asparagus, radishes, and arugula are in full bloom. To make this soup more satiating, add some grass-fed cream and hearty sprouted lentils!
Equipment
- Immersion Blender or High Speed Blender
Ingredients
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 1 lb asparagus (chopped roughly in to 1 inch chunks)
- 1 lb arugula
- 1/2 lb radishes
- 1 cup cooked lentils
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 small white onion (chopped)
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 3 tsp Celtic sea salt
- 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bunch of fresh sprouts or microgreens (optional)
Instructions
- Half and quarter the radishes with a knife so they are all roughly the same size.
- Toss the radishes in a mixing bowl with 1 tbsp of melted ghee, 1 tsp of salt, and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
- Roast them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper in an oven preheated to about 200 to 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven when time is up.
- Once cool enough to handle, chop the radishes into smaller bite-size pieces and set them aside.
- Cook lentils according to package directions. Once they finish cooking, drain the water and set them aside in another bowl.
- While the radishes are roasting and lentils are cooking, preheat your cooking pot. When hot enough, heat another tablespoon of ghee and lower the heat to medium. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and stir until the onions are translucent and soft.
- Add the garlic and cook with the onions until fragrant.
- Add the vegetable stock and bring the heat back to high. Add in your chopped asparagus and let the liquid come to a boil.
- Bring the heat down to a simmer and cook with a lid partially covering the pot.
- Once you thoroughly cook the asparagus (you can test doneness by stabbing a piece with a fork), wilt in the arugula.
- Turn off the heat and blend the soup with an immersion blender right in the pot to desired consistency.
- Add more salt to taste and freshly grind in some black peppercorns.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together cooked lentils, roasted radishes, and chopped microgreens (if using).
- Ladle the soup in your favorite bowls and add the lentil radish mixture. Spoon some heavy cream on top. Top with more microgreens if desired and enjoy!
Notes
- Use an immersion blender to directly blend the soup in the cooking pot to your desired consistency. You can also blend the soup in batches (on a low setting) in a regular blender and make sure there is an opening in the lid for the steam to escape.
- Use homemade vegetable stock to make this taste even better. You can find my go-to recipe for vegetable stock here.
- To make this dairy-free and vegan, you can replace the ghee with avocado oil and the heavy cream with cashew cream. You can find my homemade recipe for cashew cream here.