Friday, May 22, 2009

Raw Curried Lentil Soup



Day 22
of our “One Month Raw Food Cleanse”
We’re on the home stretch of our one month raw food cleanse. It’s been a lot of fun dragging out all of my raw kitchen toys and making up new recipes. This weekend I will be experimenting with Irish moss. I’ve never used it myself but I’ve had wonderful, creamy desserts with this as a key ingredient. If I create something worth sharing, you’ll see it soon!

Today I’m going to share a recipe I developed when I did my post on sprouting on May 9, 2009. I like to use tiny green lentils for this recipe and for the lentil crust on the raw pizza I posted on May 18th, 2009. I think they have a more delicate flavor than the larger brown lentils. They are extremely easy to sprout and are very digestible. As I pointed out in that May 9th post, raw lentil sprouts are a good source of protein, thiamin, iron, phosphorus and copper and a very good source of vitamin C. Since vitamin C is destroyed when heated, you’ll get the most benefit from this recipe since it is raw.

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Raw Curried Lentil Soup
[serves 2]
1 packed cup of sprouted green lentils plus some extra for garnish
3 tablespoons onion, chopped
1 cup filtered water
2 tablespoons dried raw coconut
1 medium zucchini, about 1 1/2 cups chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped (1/2 for soup and 1/2 for garnish)
2 small cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons sweet curry powder
1/2 cup banana, sliced
1/2 fresh jalapeno
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped for garnish
Kernels from 1 ear of fresh, raw corn for garnish
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 small avocado
1 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)
Several dashes of cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)

Put the dried coconut in 1 cup of water and let rehydrate for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, put the coconut and the water in a high speed blender with the sprouted lentils (remember to save some for the garnish , onion, zucchini, half of the red bell pepper, garlic, curry powder, banana, jalapeno, lime juice, avocado, salt and cayenne pepper. Blend until smooth and place in two bowls. Garnish with extra sprouted lentils, chopped red bell pepper, corn kernels and cilantro and serve.

Per serving: 327 calories, 14.6 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, 2.3 g cholesterol, 8.8 g protein, 47 g carbohydrates and 9.7 g of fiber.

Menu for Day 22
Breakfast is a strawberry smoothie with fresh strawberries, a banana, a small apple, soaked almonds, a large handful of fresh spinach, a brazil nut (for selenium), flax seed oil, ice and stevia. Lunch is a large green salad with avocado, cucumber, radishes, carrot, heirloom tomatoes, pumpkin and sunflower seeds with raw crackers. Dinner is curried lentil soup and a half of a cantaloupe filled with diced watermelon. My snack today will be apple slices and raw almond butter. I’ll be experimenting with the Irish moss to come up with a dessert.

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this! I've been trying to figure out how to make soups with sprouted legumes (to cook or not to cook, that is the question). Looks like I can just puree them up and savor the nutrients!

    Thanks!

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  2. Thanks Joanne. I tried this recipe and enjoyed it so much!! This is my 15th day on raw food diet. Lost 6 pounds and feeling very good.

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  3. Congratulations AGK! I hope you try some of the Raw Thanksgiving Menu items as well.

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  4. Omy god! Your blog is incredible. First time here and happy to follow you! Have a look at my blog for some raw/vegan ideas!

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  5. Welcome to my new friend from Mumbai! I checked out your blog and hope my other followers do too at http://rawgirlinmumbai.blogspot.com.

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  6. The raw lentil soup sounds quite interesting! I'm trying to avoid bananas. Do you have an alternative recommendation for the banana?

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  7. You can use anything sweet and creamy - A mango might be good.
    Joanne

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