Lentil Vegetable Soup
Ms Stan

Have you tried any Lentil vegetable soup? It’s a given that lentils have some very good nutritious values that make inculcating some of these legumes in your diet healthy. They are a good source of potassium, calcium, low carbs, zinc, niacin and vitamin K, safe to also say, they are quite rich in dietary fiber, lean protein, folate, and iron.

Studies have shown that the combination of nutrients in lentils has lots of medical benefits. Lentils help reduce blood cholesterol which is a huge factor in stroke and related heart diseases due to its high level of soluble fiber, folate, and magnesium.
That said, they help in digestive health, stabilizing blood sugar, increasing energy and weight loss.

Unfortunately, legumes contain some anti-nutrients which impede the absorption of other nutrients and digestion though they have lots of nutritional health values. Below is a recipe from our very own staple of a super lentil vegetable soup.

Super Lentil Vegetable Soup

Green and brown lentils are the best lentils because they are high in fiber compared to red lentils.
Ingredients:                   Cooking Time: 50mins-1hr            Serving: 5-6
- 1 cup of dry lentils (Green or Brown Lentils)
- 4 cups of water
- 2 medium size carrots washed and diced
- 1/2 cup spinach, washed and sliced
- 1/8 cup of sunflower oil
- Ground black pepper to taste
- 1 red/green chili washed and chopped
- One big size onion washed and chopped
- 2 cups of vegetable broth
- 3 teaspoons of lemon juice
- salt to taste
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 1 tin can 10 - 15-ounce tomatoes
- Rosemary leaves
- 2 teaspoon grounded cumin

Directions to Follow

  • Pour the 1/8 sunflower oil into a slightly heated pot. Quickly stir fry onions and carrots for 4 to 5 minutes until onions turn soft and tender.
  • Now add and stir fry rosemary and cumin for two minutes
  • Slowly add tomatoes, stir fry few minutes and pour lentils and vegetable broth. Add water, a tsp of salt and ground black pepper, stir, cover pot and leave on fire with a little intense heat under for about 30 minutes. After that, reduce heat to a steady level and leave to simmer gently for 15 minutes. Note: Don’t overcook lentils though you have to cook them to be soft
  • Stir in spinach and chopped green or red pepper when food is ready to serve. Check salt, and add more if you prefer. Leave to simmer about 5 minutes, when leaves and chili becomes sag to your taste, add lemon juice after taking soup from heat. You are ready to serve soup now.

Lentils Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy                              1,477 kJ (353 kcal)

Carbohydrates                    60 g
Sugars                                   2 g
Dietary fiber                        3.1 g

Fat                                         1 g

Protein                                26 g

Vitamins

Thiamine (B1)                     (76%)        0.87 mg
Riboflavin (B2)                   (18%)        0.211 mg
Niacin (B3)                          (17%)         2.605 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)        (42%)        2.120 mg
Vitamin B6                          (42%)        0.54 mg
Folate (B9)                           (120%)      479 μg
Vitamin C                            (5%)          4.4 mg

Minerals

Calcium                                (6%)            56 mg
Iron                                     (58%)          7.54 mg
Magnesium                         (34%)          122 mg
Phosphorus                         (64%)         451 mg
Potassium                            (20%)         955 mg
Sodium                                 (0%)           6 mg
Zinc                                       (50%)         4.78 mg

Other Constituents
Water 10.4 g
Percentages are roughly approximated using USDA Nutrient Database

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