Turkish Red Lentil & Bulgur Soup

the zen of slow cooking heads East to Turkey this week to champion grains and lentils in a fiber dense, nutrient rich soup.

Being thoughtful to pursue diabetes friendly recipes this month, pinpointing carbs with slow release properties has been high up on our checklist. It helps that I never, ever finish a single bag of any lentil, grain or bean since no recipe I ever make requires an entire 1lb bag. Hence I have a dedicated jar in my pantry to store the remnants for recipes like this.

Marry together the red lentils and bulgar wheat with a few herbs and spices to make this generous, textured soup and layer it with the mint oil and yoghurt. If you prefer a smoother finish, simply use an immersion blender in the slow cooker.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cooking Time LOW for 8 hours, HIGH for 4 hours

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups / 1 large onion diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1/4 cup bulgur wheat
• 1/2 cup red lentils
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cups water
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp thick yoghurt

flavored oil

• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp dried mint
• ½ tsp sweet smoked paprika

Warm the olive oil in a skillet over a medium heat and add the onion. Sauté the onion for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute. Transfer to your slow cooker.

Add the thyme, smoked paprika, tomato purée, bulghur wheat, red lentils, vegetable broth and water. Stir, cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 3 -4 hours.

While the soup is cooking make the flavored oil. Warm the olive oil in a pan with the butter until the butter has melted. Remove from heat and stir in the dried mint and paprika.

Serve the soup in bowls with yoghurt and the flavoured oil drizzled over the top, and sprinkled with a pinch or two of dried mint.

*Adapted from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall recipe in The Guardian and similar to that in Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck.

Zen Moment

“The combination of lentils with rice or bulgur is the absolute height of Levantine comfort food. I could eat it every day.”

-Yotam Ottolenghi