Honorary Dish of the Day: Mixed Legume Soup

Honorary Dish of the Day: Our second showcase and honorary dish of the day today is this delicious and heart-warming Mixed Legume Soup 😋. A variation of my classic lentil soup, this wholly vegan and vegetarian dish combines a wide variety of legumes including whole green lentils and a soup mix consisting of split red lentils, yellow split peas, green split peas, pot barley, and small rice grains to create a deeply flavorful and aromatic soup broth that is both filling and irresistibly delicious! 

To prepare this soup, I first boiled a combination of 1 cup of whole green lentils and 1 cup of legume soup mix with about 4 cups of water in a large pot under high heat. I let this boil for just about 25 - 30 minutes until legume mixture had become tender but not mushy and set the pot aside (do not pour the leftover boiling water out). I then heated up about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a separate large pot and sautéed some diced red onions, tomatoes, and crushed garlic for about 3 minutes until they started to caramelize. I seasoned this base sauté with some ground black pepper, turmeric, cumin, and smoked paprika. I then added about 1 cup of chopped carrots and stirred them in to blend well with the base ingredients. After about 3 minutes, I then poured in the mixture of boiled legumes together with the boiling water, seasoned with some salt to taste while stirring thoroughly, and covered the pot to allow the legumes to blend in to the base mixture slowly under medium-low heat. I also poured in an additional 2 cups of water into the mixture to lighten the broth and let the soup continue to simmer for about 10 - 12 minutes until it had achieved a smooth and lightly thick consistency. I garnished the soup with some dry parsley and basil flakes about 1 minute before I turned off the heat and took the pot off the stove. I served this soup hot as a side dish and paired it with some delicious vegetable rice for a complete dinner meal. Enjoy! 😋