Greek Lemon Turmeric Lentil Soup

Bringing in the new year with clean habits + whole foods! "Healthy Eating" has such an intimidating connotation behind it, when it should just mean feeding your body things that make your body happy. Transforming your mindset from need-based eating to eating for enjoyment is truly revolutionary. Having the time to chop the veggies and toast the spices and taste the soup change + develop as you go is a luxury that makes cooking dinner feel like a date with yourself, and there's nothing more wholesome than that. This soup feels like a warm hug. 

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, for cooking
• 4 tablespoons lemon infused olive oil or olive oil and zest of 1 lemon (to finish)
• 1 onion
• 2-3 carrots
• 4 stalks celery
• 4 cloves garlic
• 6 oz fresh oyster mushrooms, or 3 oz dried
• 2 teaspoons whole cumin
• 1 teaspoon whole coriander
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons turmeric
• 2 tablespoons ginger
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon Greek Seasoning
• 2 cups green lentils
• 8 cups broth, your preference 
• 2 lemons
• 1 bunch kale
• 1/2 cup herbs (I used parsley, dill, tarragon, chives)
• salt

Directions:

1. Toast your whole spices in a dry sauce pan over medium heat, stirring or tossing often for even cooking. 
2. Dice your onion, carrot, celery, garlic + mushrooms if using fresh. If you don't care for looks- feel free to pulse in a food processor to save time. 
3. Heat a dutch oven over medium heat with 3 tablespoons olive oil. Sauté onion, celery, carrots until translucent. Add garlic + mushrooms, cook another 2-3 minutes.
4. Using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, grind your toasted spices and add to veggies. Then, add turmeric, ginger, greek seasoning, salt + bay leaves to the pot. Light on salt at this stage as its going to cook for a bit and concentrate that flavor.
5. Add lentils and broth, bring to a simmer. Cover and cook on low for 40 minutes.
6. Taste to see if lentils are done. If they're still crunchy continue to cook, checking every 5 minutes. 
7. Once lentils are tender, transfer about half of the soup mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Stir it back in to combine with remaining soup. This will bring a cozy richness to the soup, without completely sacrificing texture.
8. Add your kale + zest of both lemons, continue to cook for 5 minutes. Finish with fresh herbs, a squeeze of lemon, and some fresh cracked black pepper. Taste for salt and you're good to go! 
9. To serve, I made sure each bowl got a little bit of everything, then drizzled a touch of Lemon Infused Olive Oil. I also found myself reaching for a generous pinch of parmesan cheese. 

This was incredibly fulfilling and also vegan if you go for vegetable stock instead of chicken. Toasting the spices in the same pan we cooked the soup in really guaranteed none of the oils or flavor was left behind. Because this soup relies so much on whole spices, it's kind of a blank canvas for you to get experimental with. Try it with white peppercorns instead of black, or maybe with a little caraway seed. If you like a little heat, adding some Vindaloo Curry Powder or just a touch of Kashmiri Chile Powder would be a really nice addition here. Enjoy!