Soul-warming Orange, Fennel and Ginger Lentil Soup

Oh my goodness, it is FREEZING here in Sydney!!! Okay, so we’re above zero, but still!!!!! It has been so cold here lately. Real soup and stories under a blanket kind of weather. Tyler and I have been sick since Sunday, and although we are definitely on the mend, I am still putting ginger and garlic into just about everything!!

This afternoon we started to walk to the butcher’s, but decided after about 2 minutes that it was way too cold. We headed back inside and I rummaged around in the kitchen to try and figure out something that I could make without having to go to the shops, that would warm us from the inside out. Of course, ginger and garlic were a given. The night before I had soaked flours and made a soaked version of Cyndi’s GF bread (from the Gluten Free Wheat Free thermomix cookbook – for last night’s GF baking discussion on facebook, see here). So I decided soup with ginger in it, and garlic bread made with the GF bread to dunk into the soup.

Started flipping through my various cookbooks for inspiration, and came across the Lentil Orange Soup in the Vegetarian cookbook (another TM cookbook). I wanted to use ginger, and I just wasn’t feeling the curry powder, but I loved the idea of using orange juice in a soup! So, my Orange, Fennel and Ginger Soup was born.

(Sorry it’s not a great photo, but we were cold and huuuungry!)

Orange, Fennel and Ginger Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

6 oranges

2cm piece of ginger, peeled

1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1 onion, peeled and halved

25g coconut oil (or other cooking oil)

approx 600g water

200g red split lentils (preferably soaked overnight)

2 tsp TM stock paste

Method:

1) Cut the peel and white pith from the oranges and discard (see note at bottom). Place the whole oranges in the TM bowl and juice for 1 minute on speed 8. Set juice aside.

2) Put ginger in TM bowl. Chop for 2 seconds, speed 7.

3) Add fennel seeds and onion. Chop a further 3 seconds on speed 7.

4) Add oil and saute for 2 mins, 100 degrees, speed 2.

5) Zero the scales and weigh in orange juice from step 1, then without resetting the scales to zero, add enough water to take it to 1.1L (1.100 on the scales) of total liquid.

6) Add lentils and stock paste. Cook for 20 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 2.

To make the garlic bread, I simply used a fork to mash some finely chopped garlic (chopped in the TM before I started the soup) into some room temperature butter. Spread the garlic butter on slices of bread and popped them under the grill for a few minutes to brown up – watch it closely so it doesn’t burn!

Note: Whenever I juice, or remove the peel from citrus for any reason, I don’t waste it! Sometimes I will peel the peel off with a vegetable peeler and freeze it, then cut off the pith separately – use the peel in biscuits, custards, basically anything. Other times, I just cut the peel and pith off together, pop it in a glass jar, and cover with white vinegar – it makes for a great naturally-citrus-fragranced and naturally-antibacterial all purpose cleaner! Just dilute with a bit of water and wipe, wipe, wipe! 🙂

I hope you are all nice and warm, wherever this recipe finds you!