#SussYourFood

Our lovely local volunteer, Chris Horrocks, shows us how to make her signature lentil soup as part of our #SussYourFood campaign, and gives us lots of hints and tips on how to prepare vegetables with minimal waste! If you'd like to learn how to chop up onions, carrots, celery and garlic with as little waste as possible, then this is the recipe for you. Give it a go and tag us in your tasty results using @sustainablekirrie or use the hashtag #SustainableKirrie!
We sourced all of our ingredients for making this soup from A Longer Table, the plastic-free grocery shop in the town centre of Kirriemuir. We cannot recommend them enough! Check them out here: www.alongertab...
Ingredients -
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion - peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves - crushed
2 carrots - cut into small pieces
1 stick celery - cut into small pieces
225g red lentils
1.5 pints vegetable stock (homemade or powdered) and water
1-2 tsp lemon juice
Pinch of salt
Some pepper
Optional paprika!
Method -
1) Heat the oil in a large saucepan.
2) Add the onion and cook gently until transparent. Remember to stir!
3) Add the garlic.
4) Add the carrots, celery and lentils. Stir thoroughly and cook gently for 2-3 minutes.
5) Add vegetable stock and water, and bring to the boil.
6) Simmer gently for 20 minutes. Remember to stir now and then.
7) Beat with a wooden spoon to break up the lentils.
8) Add your seasoning. Make sure to taste it and not add too much! It's easier to add more than take away.
9) Optionally, blend the soup!
10) Enjoy your soup with a slice of buttered crusty bread and let us know how it tastes!
Tips and Tricks!
- Soak your onions in water before attempting to peel them; it makes it much easier!
- Scrape any skin off of your carrots rather than peeling; this reduces waste.
- Cut the carrot in half before cutting off the top; that way you can see what you're cutting away.
- You don't need to remove all of the stringy bits from your celery, just a few will do!
- Lentils make your soup more filling and will help to make it go further!
- You can make your own homemade veg stock using offcuts from other vegetables and herbs. Cook it in water slowly on a low heat for as long as you can, then sieve out the pieces and add the flavour-some veg stock (the watery part!) to your next soup creation.
- Save vegetable scraps for making homemade stock over time in a little bag in your freezer.
- Add lemon to your soup before salt; you'd be surprised how much it brings out the taste on its own and this will help reduce your salt intake.
- Add some paprika or any other herb or seasoning you enjoy to create an extra tasty dimension to your soup!
- Blending your soup "hides" the vegetables and may encourage little humans to eat and enjoy your soup, oblivious to its healthy, nutritious contents!
- Best enjoyed with a nice piece of buttered crusty bread, maybe saved from waste from the Community Fridge at Kirriemuir Food Hub!
#SustainableKirrie #ValueResources #LoveFoodHateWaste #LetsDoNetZero #FoodWaste #SussYourFood #ClimateChallengeFund