Coconut curry lentil soup
Red lentils simmered with coconut milk, curry powder, ginger and spinach into a golden, creamy soup, a vegan, gluten-free thermos lunch from the pantry.
- 40 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.76 a serving
- 340 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount and pack the rest for the next few days.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 cup split red lentils, rinsed
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 can light coconut milk
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 1 lime, juiced
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
Each serving has about 340 calories, 15 g protein, 47 g carbs and 13 g fat, and costs about $2.76 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, the garlic, the ginger, and the lentils in a strainer.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook the onion until soft, about 5 minutes.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
in the garlic, ginger and curry powder for 1 minute, .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Dolly’s tip: Warming the curry powder in the oil is what makes it taste deep instead of dusty.Add the lentils, tomatoes, broth and salt, and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to low and with the for 20 minutes, now and then, until the lentils fall apart.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Lid ajar. Lid ajar means resting the lid on the pot slightly off-center, leaving a small gap. Some steam escapes, so the sauce thickens and doesn’t boil over, while most of the heat stays in.
How you’ll know: A thin wisp of steam drifts out of the gap, and the pot bubbles gently without spilling.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Low heatTimer: 20 min
Dolly’s tip: Red lentils sink and can stick, so scrape the bottom with your spoon every 5 minutes.in the coconut milk and spinach and cook for 2 minutes, until the spinach .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Low heatTimer: 2 min
Turn off the heat, squeeze in the lime juice, and taste, adding salt at a time until it tastes bright.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
To pack, fill a thermos with boiling water for 5 minutes, pour it out, and fill it with steaming soup.
Dolly’s tip: It thickens in the fridge, so add a splash of water when you reheat. It keeps 4 days, or 3 months frozen.Food safety: Put leftovers in the fridge within 2 hours and eat them within 3 to 4 days. Reheat until steaming hot, 165°F.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop plans your lunches along with the week’s dinners, puts what you need on the same grocery list, and walks you through each step.
