This soup is super easy to make and is packed with digestion-friendly ingredients. An aromatic base of ginger, garlic, onion, carrot, and jalapeno get blitzed up in the blender and cooked until soft and fragrant. Red lentils and jasmine rice get simmered in a broth spiked with warming spices until thick and creamy. Top it with salted lime yogurt, crunchy cashews, and fresh cilantro for a killer meatless nourishing meal!
Ingredient Highlight
Lentils! My favorite small but mighty pulse (AKA legume)! They are packed full of protein, fiber, folic acid, iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, and potassium. One half cup of uncooked lentils (or about 1 ¼ cup cooked) contains 24g of protein, that’s more than you get in 3 oz of steak!
Servings 4 People
Prep Time 10 minutes 
Cook Time 30 minutes Ingredients
- 2 carrots, tops trimmed off, quartered
- 1 jalapeno, trimmed, halved
- 3 inch piece ginger, cut into pieces
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 yellow onion, cut into large pieces
- 3 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt divided
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- 6 cups water
- 1 (14 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 ½ cups red lentils
- ½ cup jasmine rice
- 4 cups frozen spinach or kale or 6 cups loosely packed fresh
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- Toasted cashews
- Chopped cilantro
Salted lime yogurt (optional):
- ½ cup plain whole milk Greek or regular yogurt
- 1 tsp lime juice
- ¼-½ tsp kosher salt
- We’re using the blender to chop all of this up, so we just want to trim and chop these large ingredients into more manageable chunks for the blender to do the rest of the work. You could also just finely hand chop everything!
- Any hot pepper will work or leave it out if you don’t want it spicy. Always check the heat level of the pepper you use – you may only need half.
- Recommend doubling if you like lots of yogurt on top. Or just top with plain yogurt and a sprinkle of salt instead.
Instructions
- In a high-speed blender, add the carrots, jalapeno, ginger, and garlic and blend until everything is roughly chopped, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the onion and blend again, scraping down the sides and under the blade as needed, until no large chunks remain.
- In a large pot over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons oil. Add the onion mixture and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes.
- Push the aromatics to the edge of the pot and add another 1 tablespoon oil into the center and pour the spices into the oil and stir them around for about 30 seconds (the oil will help bloom the spices!).
- Add the water, tomatoes, lentils, rice, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Use your hands (or kitchen shears) to break the tomatoes open and into smaller chunks (be careful of splatter). Stir everything together, then cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir again, then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until rice and lentils are cooked through, stirring halfway through. Stir in the lime juice and greens until wilted. If the soup is too thick for you, stir in some water to thin it out.
- To make the salted yogurt (if using), in a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, lime, and salt.
- Serve topped with salted yogurt (or plain yogurt + salt), cashews, and cilantro.
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Trim and quarter 2 carrots
- Trim and halve 1 jalapeno
- Cut a 3-inch piece ginger into smaller chunks
- Peel 2 cloves garlic
- Cut 1 yellow onion into large pieces
- Mix together the spice mix (optional)
- Toast cashews
- Chop cilantro
Substitutions:
- To make vegan, use a vegan yogurt or top with chopped avocado.
- If you don’t have a spice (like cardamom) just substitute with more cinnamon, turmeric, or cumin.
Storage:
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 6 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Warm up leftovers on the stove or in the microwave until warmed through. To thin it out, just stir in some water. Top with plenty of yogurt, cashews, and cilantro.
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