Prep Time::15 mins
Cook Time::45 mins
Total Time:: 1 hr
Servings::4
Ingredients
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2 tablespoons butter
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 tablespoons tomato paste, or more to taste
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 quart chicken broth
1 cup red lentils
1 rib celery, diced
1 large carrot, diced
Lemon-Mint Yogurt:
6 leaves fresh mint, thinly sliced
1 pinch salt
3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt, or more to taste
½ lemon, juiced
½ teaspoon lemon zest
Directions
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, tomato paste, and salt to melted butter. Cook, stirring often, until onion softens and tomato paste turns a deep brick red or brown color, 5 to 7 minutes.
Add garlic, cumin, and cayenne pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Stir in lentils, celery, and carrot. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lentils and vegetables are very tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, make lemon-mint yogurt: Grind mint and salt in a mortar and pestle to a paste. Add yogurt, lemon juice, and zest; stir together until combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Taste soup for seasoning. Use an immersion blender to purée about 1/2 of the soup to achieve a creamier texture. Serve hot with spoonfuls of lemon-mint yogurt.
Chef's Notes:
To make this dish vegan, use olive oil instead of butter, vegetable broth instead of chicken, and plant-based yogurt instead of Greek yogurt.
Other varieties of lentils will work.
If making the soup ahead, blanching the mint for a few seconds in boiling water and then shocking it in ice water will help retain its green color when mixed into the yogurt.
Crumbled feta cheese is a nice substitution if you're not into yogurt.