A thrifty little red lentil soup and some mall karaoke
Plus I'm resuscitating a sweet treat that feels very "2014 wellness blogger' but really deserves a second chance.
Thank you for the positive feedback about last week’s debut newsletter! I’m looking forward to sharing recipes and other bits and pieces with you this way. Please only stay subscribed if the emails are helpful / interesting / entertaining to you. Life’s too short to clutter your inbox with anything you don’t need. Kelly x
Red lentil, carrot and lemon soup with feta
Serves 4-6
Make this! A simple and economical soup that’s full of flavour and is absolutely perfect on a chilly night. Piles of buttered hot toast are the essential accompaniment!
1 medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
4 cloves garlic, diced
2 sticks celery, diced
2 large carrots, halved lengthways and sliced
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried mint
1 ½ cup split red lentils
1 tin cherry tomatoes or chopped tomatoes
1.5 litres vegetable or chicken stock
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Sea salt and cracked black pepper to season
Olive oil for sautéing
Crumbled feta to serve
Handful roughly chopped fresh parsley to serve
Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and ginger and sauté gently for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, celery and carrot. Sauté for 10 minutes before adding the paprika and mint. Give this a minute or two in the pan before adding the lentils. Stir in the tinned tomatoes, stock and lemon zest. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 25 minutes until the lentils are tender and the soup has thickened. Add some boiling water if the soup has thickened too much.
Stir through the lemon juice and season well.
Serve with crumbled feta and fresh parsley on top.
(I originally wrote this recipe for Venerdi. They make amazing bread. Fav clients of mine. )
I’m enthusiastically endorsing doing karaoke at the mall.
I’m not a mall person at all but every now and then necessity leads us there. We were at Newmarket Westfield last weekend, which is an absolute monster. Luke had the good idea to jump into Coin Singing Booth and do some songs.
I think it’s $8 for 3 songs. We did 6 songs. It’s such a giggle. The perfect break from the mind-numbing experience of malls. There’s an applause button. It’s great.
Raw slices were all the rage in the 2010s….
Everything was raw and jammed full of nuts. I’ll admit I threw myself wholeheartedly into this and despite the fact most raw vegan cheesecakes cost about $50 to make and had an aftertaste like some sort of crafting glue my 6 year old kid would use, I persisted. Until I couldn’t any longer. I was worn out from it all. So was my food processor. I don’t even have much of a sweet tooth and it all required so much effort. I cried “never again!”
But allow me to sheepishly propose that this little raw slice below, that could’ve easily fit in during that time, is really worth making. It’s very tasty. In fact it doesn’t even have to be raw, you could use roasted unsalted nuts (you just might need to add a little bit of moisture if it’s not sticky enough).
This recipe comes together really quickly and is a fun one to play around with. I've listed some adaptions below. I cut it into little squares and store it in a container in the freezer to grab from when I want some.
Raw Brownie Slice
150g dried dates
3 cups raw nuts (I used almond, pistachios and walnuts)
1 cup shredded coconut
¼ cup chia seeds
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon good quality dark cocoa powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon honey
Place the dates in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes before draining well.
Place the nuts, coconut, chia seeds, cocoa powder, cinnamon and salt into a food processor. Blitz until fine in texture. Add the dates, vanilla and honey. Process the mixture for a few minutes until very well blended. it should be sticky when you press it togteher. Scrape the sides occasionally as needed.
Press the mixture very firmly into a square baking dish that has been lined with baking paper. Use the back of a spoon to firmly smooth out the top.
Place into the freezer for a couple of hours. Cut into pieces. Must be stored in the fridge or freezer. It will last 2 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge or can be stored in the freezer for up to 4 months (or more).
Other ways to use this recipe
Add the zest of 1 orange for a delicious bright note.
Add a little mint essence for a chocolatey minty slice.
Roll teaspoonfuls of mixture into balls and then roll in shredded coconut or dust with cocoa powder. Store in the fridge or freezer.
Bake the slice for 20-25 minutes at 160 degrees celsius to create a nice lunchbox treat.
Listening to:
Sleater Kinney: Little Ropes. This album is definitely for me. I’m exactly the person it was written for. Grown up, with all the feelings. Like a second puberty. It’s angsty and angry in places and catchy and I really like it.
Animal Collective: Feels. One from the early 200s. Luke bought this on Vinyl for me when he was in San Francisco last week. Such an uplifting album. I used to go for long morning walks around my Brooklyn, NY neighbourhood when I was 25/26 years old with this on my ipod. Still a good listen.
Other things you might like to make this week…
I wrote this Broccoli, Puy Lentil and Halloumi Salad for The CareFillery a couple of years ago. I think It’s very tasty. Plenty of lemon zest and mint to season the lentils is the key.
This Baked Banana Oatmeal with Seeds and Blueberries is such a wonderful winter breakfast option. It will last for several days and is delicious warm with some cream or coconut cream.
I was on the breakfast show (AM) on TV3 this morning.
It was nice to get a chance to talk about my cookbook. This is me just having walked in the door home afterwards. You can order a signed copy for yourself HERE.
Within New Zealand you’ll also find it at all good booksellers. x
Thanks for reading! xox
Made the lentil soup and loaded it up with feta, absolute winner!!
Love your food and vibe