What We Ate Wednesday--Kale, Lentil and Lemon Soup

Hello lovelies! I have long been a fan of poverty campaigner and chef Jack Monroe. Her meals prove you don't need expensive ingredients to make a healthy meal. I have recently discovered the fact that you can follow her on Facebook which means recipes pop up on my feed, I get inspired and then we make them.

Or rather we adapt them. Can I ever follow a recipe just like it says, Spiderman wonders to himself.

No. No I  can't. 

I did use fresh lemons where she uses bottled lemons because I had some, but if you don't use 1/4 cup lemon juice. Also I used kale instead of spinach because...kale. 

Find here recipe here: JACK MONROE'S RECIPE

Kale, Lentil and Lemon Soup

1 onion, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, crushed

½ cup  dried red lentils

1 litre vegetable stock

1 tsp turmeric

zest and juice of 2 lemons

a pinch or more of red pepper flakes

100 g kale, de-stemmed and torn into bite sized pieces

Smoked paprika for serving

1. Cook your onion and garlic in a splash of water or oil until softened.

2. Rinse the lentils in a sieve and tip them into the pan, followed by the stock and the turmeric and chilli flakes, then stir gently. Bring it to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Grate the zest from the lemons and squeeze out the juice. Stir the lemon zest, juice, and the kale into the soup. Cook for a few minutes until kale softens.

4. Ladle into bowls and top with a sprinkle of smoked paprika.

I might even throw in an extra 1/4 cup lentils the next time just to give it more staying power, but the lemon was lovely and bright and contrasted well with the earthiness of the kale and the smokiness of the paprika.