This soup could be the poster child for the nextovers movement. Not because it’s sexy (lentils are not sexy) or pretty (nope), but because it’s delicious and nourishing and takes less than 15 minutes.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving
- 1 medium yellow or sweet onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 cups nextover’d Lemon-Garlic Lentils
- 1 (5-ounce) package baby spinach
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Plain Greek yogurt, for serving
- Chopped fresh cilantro, for serving
How to Make It
- In a medium pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 6 to 8 minutes (don’t let the onion brown!). Stir in the ginger, cumin, and red pepper flakes; cook for 1 minute more.
- Add the lentils and 4 cups water to the pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 to 3 minutes to allow the flavors to develop. Remove from the heat. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup about halfway you want to thicken it, but there should still be some distinguishable texture. (Alternatively, you can blend the soup in batches in a countertop blender, but be careful the steam from the hot liquid can blow the lid off. Remove the center cap from the lid to allow steam to escape, and hold a dish towel over the hole when blending.)
- Add the spinach and stir just until wilted, about 1 minute. Stir in the lemon juice and several grinds of black pepper, and season the soup with salt (depending on how salty your lentils are, you could need up to a tablespoon).
- Serve the soup warm, dolloped with yogurt, sprinkled with cilantro, and drizzled with a little more olive oil.