We all know that soups and salad diet is a good way to reduce those calories. I somehow prefer a nice hearty soup over a salad, hence I keep on experimenting with different soups and some turn out better than others. This is such a healthy soup full of protein and vitamins from the ingredients used in the recipe.

The vegetables that I use in this recipe is courgettes and asparagus along with the staples of a good stock which is carrot + celery + onions + garlic. I picked up some round courgettes from the farmers market over the weekend and they did full justice to this recipe.

So here it goes, remember that these will serve two people nicely however you may have some leftovers which shouldn’t be a problem to consume the next day.

What you will need:

1. 1/2 cup of green moong lentils (washed and drained)
2. 1/2 cup of yellow split pea lentils (washed and drained)
3. 1 white onion chopped
4. 1 carrot, diced
5. Celery – 2-3 stalks diced
6. 2 cloves of garlic
7. 1 red chilli diced
8. 1 tbsp of thyme
9. Cumin powder – 1 tbsp
10. Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
11. Asparagus – Around 150 gms
12. Courgette – 2 medium size ones chopped in large chunks
13. Oil – 1 tsp

Process:

• Break the asparagus into 2 at their natural breaking point and then use the lower half chopped for the soup. If the lowest part is really woody and dry then discard it otherwise they can be chopped and added to the soup. The front tip should be kept intact and added to the soup only at the last stage of cooking.
• Use a pressure cooker to make this soup and if you don’t have one you can use a big stock pot. In that case if you pre-soak the lentils for a few hours before cooking, it will cook the lentils faster.
• Heat the oil in the pressure cooker / pan and then add the garlic, onion, celery and carrots and thyme to it. Once they are slightly fried, add the lentils in the pan along with all the spice powders and season it with salt. Add 3 cups of water along with the courgettes and let them cook on a slow flame. After 4-5 whistles on the pressure cooker or around 25 minutes on the hob, check if the lentils are cooked.
• Once cooked, add the asparagus to the soup and then cook for another 2-3 minutes.
• Add the chopped chilli to the soup for some extra spice.
• Garnish this with fresh mint leaves and your soup is ready to enjoy.