Yummy things!

It's more like the end of winter rather than the beginning of summer here in not-so-sunny Sydney. On yet another mizzly day, I made this delicious Moroccan Chickpea and Lentil Soup. The list of ingredients may seem long but really there's only a bit of chopping to do before you throw everything into the pan. All up, the whole thing takes just over half an hour...

Moroccan Chickpea and Lentil Soup 

Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons honey
zest of 1 lemon
400g tin diced tomatoes
1 litre vegetable stock
1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 cup borlotti beans, fresh, if in season, otherwise use tinned
400g tin chickpeas
handful of roughly chopped mint
handful of roughly chopped coriander
turkish bread or flatbread, to serve
Yoghurt and tahini sauce
1/2 cup natural yoghurt
1/4 cup tahini
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon

Yoghurt and tahini sauce: combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Soup: heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, add the onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes until softened and caramelised. Stir in the garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, saffron, ginger and honey and cook for 1 minute. Add the lemon zest, tomatoes, stock, lentils and borlotti beans and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the lentils and beans are tender. Add the chickpeas and simmer for 2 minutes. Season and stir in the mint and coriander.

Serve with the yoghurt and tahini sauce and warm bread.

Thank you Miss S for the recipe. I've changed it only slightly.

And if you need to replenish your spices, Herbies is the place to go. If you can't make it to Rozelle, they have an online shop http://www.herbies.com.au/

Happy weekend!