Swiss Chard Soup with Lentils

Step 1

Wash the chard and with a knife separate the leaves from the stems. Chop the stems and slice the leaves (but keep leaves and stems separate).

Step 2

In a large pot or Dutch oven warm the olive oil, add onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Step 3

Add the garlic, all the spices, give a good stir, and cook for a further 20-30 seconds.

Step 4

Add the lentils, the chopped stems and the broth (alternately, warm water will work too). Bring to the boil.

Step 5

Reduce to medium heat, cover with a lid and cook until the lentils are soft, it will take about 15-20 minutes.

Step 6

Once the lentils are done, blend part of the soup with an immersion blender (alternately, transfer part of the soup into a highspeed blender, but be careful, it's hot and in this case you might want to turn the heat off and wait 5 minutes until it cools down a bit).

Step 7

Add the Swiss chard leaves and half of the coriander, push them down with the back of a wooden spoon, and cook for about 3 minutes until the leaves are tender but still bright and green.

Step 8

Turn off the heat, taste and adjust the seaoning adding more salt and pepper according to your taste. You might want to adjust the consinstency too, feel free to add a bit of warm water if you wish to thin out the soup.

Step 9

Serve with extra chili flakes if you like, chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice (about a quarter of lemon per serving is fine, don't skip it!). Enjoy.