As most of you know, I believe in simple, well cooked plant-based food, but every so often I like to shake things up.
Today, I made a delicious, and somewhat exotic, yellow vegan lentil soup with tomatoes and dried plums adapted from Padma Lakshmi's extraordinary cookbook “Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet“.
Simple to make, but certainly not boring.
Lentils are relatively quick and easy to prepare, and absorb all the wonderful flavors from other foods and seasonings.
They are also an excellent source of dietary fiber, iron and protein. The cumin seeds are really nice here so don't skimp. The shredded coconut gives it a more savory flavor, and if you like heat, add red pepper flakes to taste.
I finished it up with a burst of fresh lemon juice, cilantro and more chopped dried plums. Rich, healthy and yummy.
Hope you enjoy this vegan lentil soup as much as I did.
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Vegan Lentil Soup with Tomatoes, Coconut, Cilantro and Dried Plums
- 3 cups orange or yellow lentils, washed well with warm water and drained
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ cup chopped shallots
- 1½ tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise
- 3 plum tomatoes, quartered
- 1 teaspoons curry power
- ¼ cup - ½ cup of vegetable broth if needed
- juice of 1 lemon
- 10 dried plums, pitted, chopped to bits (most prunes are dried plums)
- 1 cup freshly chopped chilantro leaves
- Fill a deep stew pot with lentils, bay leaf, salt and enough water to cover the ingredients by 1 inch. Simmer on very low heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour until lentils are cooked but not mushy.
- Heat the oil in a skillet and add the cumin seeds. After 2 minutes, add the shallots and ginger and cook until shallots are soft. Add the coconut and stir until the coconut is golden brown.
- Add all the tomatoes and the curry powder, and saute on medium heat for about 5 minutes until the tomatoes start to wilt.
- Add the mixture to the lentils, stirring over low heat until nicely combined. Remove bay leaves.
- With an immersion blender, pulverize the lentils so that the whole mixture is roughly blended. Add some vegetable broth if too thick.
- Remove the soup from the heat and add the lemon juice, chopped plums, and cilantro. Stir and serve hot.
You mention ginger in the instructions but not in the ingredients
Hi Jess – 2 tablespoons ginger minced. Thanks for noticing that!