Curried Moroccan Lentil Soup

Hey Everyone. It's Rebecca.

One of my favorite types of soup is spicy Moroccan Lentil Soup. Au Bon Pain makes a great one that is lunchtime staple in my life. So I decided to start looking for a similar recipe. I ended up finding a nice looking one on a professional food blog called the "Happy Herbivore". In case you can't tell from the name, this dish is actually vegan, so it's full of veggies and obviously lentils, and packed with great flavors!

Like all good soups, it starts by dicing up celery, carrots, onions and garlic.

Heat about a table spoon of oil in a pot and sautee the onions and garlic, till they are just starting to get tender.

Add a thin layer of water to the pot and bring to boil.

Add the rest of the veggies and cook until veggies have softened and most of the water is absorbed.

Add in the vegetable broth.

Add in lentils. And a can of tomatoes (I actually forgot to add in the tomatoes, and it still tasted good but I do think they would be a great addition for next time!).

Create your spice mix by combining, Garam Marsala, Ginger, Paprika, Cumin, Cinnamon and Curry powder. I personally am not a huge ginger fan, so I used slightly less ginger than the recipe called for an added a bit of extra curry powder and some cardamom.

Cook for about 15 minutes or till the lentils are cooked.

Use a blender to puree about half of the soup. Stir it back into the pot.

Serve with pita, naan or other bread.

Recipe: 
- 1 small onion, diced
- 4 whole garlic cloves, minced
- 3 1/2  cups vegetable broth
- 2/3 cup red lentils
- 14 ounces diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup baby carrots, sliced
- 1/2 cup celery stalks, sliced
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp mild curry powder


Heat oil in a pot. Over hight heat, saute onions, and garlic. Add a thin lay of water and the remaining veggies. Cook until water has absorbed. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Continue to cook for about 15 minutes, or until lentils are cooked through.  Transfer 1/2 of soup to blender (or use an immersion blender) and puree until smooth. Return to pot and mix with rest of the soup. Allow flavors to come together for a few more minutes and serve! 

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Well presumably you've read Sarah's list of reasons why we haven't blogged recently. Allow me to take this opportunity to add one more...

5). Rebecca was sick 

So I decided to take advantage of the situation and blog about my favorite go to recipe when I'm sick; Chicken Noodle Soup. There's really nothing better when you have a cold or flu then chicken noodle soup so this recipe has been made a lot in our apartment in recent weeks. 

It's easy enough to open up a can of soup and heat it up in the microwave, but in less than an hour you can make a soup from that's far better than anything you can buy in can. And the best part is you probably have everything you need already in your pantry. 

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Dice up two boneless skinless chicken breasts. Season as desired with ground black pepper and salt. 

Heat approximately 2 tbsp. of olive oil in a deep pot. Dice up 2-3 cloves of garlic (let's be honest, in our apartment the more garlic the better). Add chicken and cook through.   

Meanwhile roughly chop up 2 medium onions, 3-4 stalks of celery and 3 medium carrots. This combination of vegetables are known in french cooking as a Mirepoix, and form the basis for many soups, stews and other dishes. 

Add the diced veggies to the pot and sauté till they're tender, about 5-10 mins. Season the chicken and veggies with a tsp. of ground thyme and a bit of dried rosemary. (Note: If you have fresh herbs, wait to add them till you add the liquid). 

Pour in a 32 oz. box of chicken broth and 6 cups of water. Add a bay leaf. 

Bring to a simmer for about 30 minutes. 

Fill a separate pot of water and bring to a boil. Add 8 oz of elbow macaroni (or your favorite type of any other pasta!).  

Once the noodles have cooked, strain them and add them to the pot with the soup. 

Serve and Enjoy! 

Chicken Noodle Soup: 

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

2-3 cloves of Garlic

2 Medium Onions, chopped 

3 stalks of Celery, chopped 

3 Carrots, chopped

1 tsp. ground thyme

2 tbsp. olive oil 

32 oz box of Chicken Broth 

8 oz of Elbow Macaroni

Dried Rosemary 

Heat olive oil in a deep pot. Add diced chicken breasts and diced garlic. Meanwhile dice up carrots, onions and celery. Once the chicken is cooked add in the vegetables and sauté for 5 to 10 minutes, until veggies are tender.   Season mixture with rosemary and thyme. Pour in a 32oz box of chicken stock. Stir in 6 cups of water. Add in a bay leaf. Bring to a boil, and simmer for approximately 30 minutes. 

In a separate pot bring water to a boil and cook 8oz of elbow macaroni. Drain pasta and add to soup. 

Serve and Enjoy!