red lentil, carrot + fennel immunity soup

ingredients

  • 1 cup red lentils

  • 1 sweet potato, orange flesh, small cubed

  • 4 carrots, diced

  • 1/2 fennel bulb, sliced

  • 1 1/2 cup cauliflower florets (approx. 1/2 small head)

  • 1 small leek, sliced

  • 2 tbsp turmeric root, peeled + sliced thinly (or sub 2 tsp turmeric powder)

  • 2 garlic clove, loosely chopped

  • 1” knob ginger, peeled + grated (or sub 1/2 tsp ginger powder)

  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, but recommended)

  • 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds

  • 6 cups water or vegetable stock (or sub bone broth)

  • sea salt + black pepper, to taste

  • optional add-in’s: fenugreek, coriander, cumin, rosemary, paprika, curry leaf, kombu flakes (adds digestive enzyme for lentils!)

method

  1. Add all ingredients into the slow cooker and turn on high for six hours.

  2. Remove from slow cooker to blend: Place soup into blender and blitz until creamy. Feel free to leave texture by pulsing instead.

  3. Pour back into slow cooker or pot, taste, adjust seasonings, and enjoy!

BENEFITS

This soup has another name: Immunity soup. The multiple orange/yellow hue’d ingredients, especially sweet potato and turmeric, have tons of vitamin A content (beta-carotene to be exact) and can do amazing things for the immune system. Sipping this soothing soup has compounds that may stimulate the production of white blood cells strengthening our defence against bacterias and viruses. In addition to providing loads of nutritional benefits, it’s warming like a hug from a best friend. It’s cozy like a cold night perched on the sofa in-front of the wood stove or a cup of hot tea being held with chilled hands from the crisp outside air. You’ll be doing so many wonderful things for the body with enjoying this soup by stuffing loads of essential nutrients into the human vessel with an easy-to-digest, immunity boosting, hormone balancing, and satisfying bowl of orangey-goodness. Lastly, it’s a no-brainer with one-step methods.

tips + tricks

  1. Make it easy and follow the recipe method ‘as is’ or spice it up by roasting the vegetables on a baking tray before it hits the slow cooker to enhance the natural sweetness and amp up flavour.

  2. Add freshly ground black pepper to enhance the powerful anti-inflammatory benefits from curcurcumin, the active compound found in turmeric root, due to the alkaloid ‘piperine’ in black pepper. Twist a few turns as the soup is almost finished cooking, plus more to your own bowl.

  3. Stir in one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to each bowl to stimulate digestive enzymes on salivary glands for lentil absorption

  4. No pumpkin seeds? Use one can of full-fat coconut milk instead. Adjust the liquid as needed. This is important as vitamin A is fat-soluble which means it requires fat to be absorbed fully. By adding a fat source such as butter, oil, coconut milk, or hemp seeds to vitamin A containing foods, you’ll be increasing the bioavailability of this essential vitamin. This soup is packed with vitamin A goodness.

  5. Pinched on time? Use a food processor to grate or dice vegetables to save time because you’re pureeing it anyways!

Sierra Wright