My son does not eat vegetables. He doesn’t even like fruit. He does however like soup, so I frequently make this soup. It’s a lovely filling healthy soup, which we eat a lot and it means he gets some veg in his body. Yay.
I also regularly make this for my lunch – I try other recipes, but always come back to this one.
This is my take on a recipe by Sheila Moloney in a book called ‘Sunshine Cookery’. I found it in a charity shop and it has lots of healthy recipes for kids in it. Sheila says that lentil soup is very calming for kids – so after reading that I had to make it.
I have added in stock and butternut squash – just to add more flavour and to increase the veg.
Ingredients:
- 1 finely chopped onion
- 2-3 stalks of chopped celery
- 1 cup of red lentils (rinsed)
- 4 cups of boiling water
- 1 stock cube or stock pot. I use vegetable
- 3-4 chopped carrots
- Butternut squash (optional – I sometimes add in a third of a frozen bag)
- salt and pepper to taste
Method:
- Soften the onion and celery in a large saucepan in a little oil for a few minutes.
- Add the lentils, water and stock cube and simmer for 10 minutes
- Add the chopped carrots and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
- Season to taste
- I blend the soup but that is optional
Some cakemum tips/observations:
- You can use other vegetables, depending on what you have in the house, but the version above is my sure fire hit here.
- This soup freezes really well, so I normally freeze a few portions.
- You can also add a tin of drained chickpeas after you blend the soup. This makes it even more filling and adds more protein. I did this once when I had no lentils to bulk up the soup.
Enjoy!
De (aka the cake mum)
The Cake Mum 