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Pasta Chicken

Carrot and Lentil Soup with Toasted Almonds

Published: Dec 03, 2012 | 28 Comments

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Carrot and Lentil Soup with Toasted Almonds – healthy, delicious, French-style soup.  Cooked carrots and lentils are blended in a blender to create a smooth, velvety soup.  The combination of spices (cumin, coriander, nutmeg, chili, and, especially, the Cajun spice) create additional dimension to the soup.  The soup has a well-balanced flavor – the sweetness of carrots is compensated by earthiness of lentils.  The toasted sliced almonds sprinkled on top complete this soup perfectly!

Carrot and lentil soup, with toasted almonds on top

I made this carrot and lentil soup with toasted almonds first time 2 years ago for Christmas, and it was an immediate hit with the family. Even those family members who did not like the idea of a “carrot and lentil soup” fell in love with it, finished their bowls and asked for seconds.

Carrot and lentil soup

The special thing about this recipe is that it combines blended carrots and blended lentils together, thus creating a completely different flavor where usual sweetness of carrots is compensated by earthiness of lentils. The resulting carrot and lentil soup has a well-balanced flavor where you don’t even know that you’re eating carrots, and at the same time you do know you’re eating them: the carrots flavor becomes more subtle. The toasted sliced almonds sprinkled on top complete this soup perfectly! And if you’re a carrot lover – you’ll appreciate the difference in flavor lentils create. If you are not a carrot lover (like my husband) – you’ll love this lentil soup anyway, because of the flavor complexity the lentils, the spices, and the toasted almonds bring. And you’ll definitely love this soup if you’re a lentil lover.

Carrot and lentil soup

Spices are very important in this recipe. Their combination(cumin, coriander, nutmeg, chilli, and, especially, the Cajun spice) creates additional dimension to the lentil soup. In my ingredients list, I emphasize that you could use anywhere from 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of Cajun spice – depends on how subtle you want Cajun spice be in your soup. Also, make sure to season the soup well, because with carrots and lentils, just the right amount of salt and pepper brings out all the right flavors. In my ingredients list, I put a minimum amount of salt (1/2 teaspoon) – feel free to adjust it up, the way you like it.

Carrot and lentils soup recipe, spiced up, spices, coriander, cumin, cajun, half-and-half

carrot and lentil soup with toasted almonds
Print
Carrot and Lentil Soup with Toasted Almonds
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Total Time
1 hr 10 mins
 
Carrot and Lentil Soup with Toasted Almonds - healthy, delicious, French-style soup.  Cooked carrots and lentils are blended in a blender to create a smooth, velvety soup.  The combination of spices (cumin, coriander, nutmeg, chili, and, especially, the Cajun spice) create additional dimension to the soup.  The soup has a well-balanced flavor - the sweetness of carrots is compensated by earthiness of lentils.  The toasted sliced almonds sprinkled on top complete this soup perfectly!
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: French
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 147 kcal
Author: Julia
Ingredients
  • 4 carrots
  • 1/2 cup green lentils , dry
  • water
  • 1/2 cup half and half
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon chilli
  • 1 teaspoon Cajun spice
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Boil carrots in water until carrots soften and are thoroughly cooked. Bring 1/2 cup of lentils to boil in 2 cups of water, cook lentils until they are cooked. Add water if necessary. Reserve water from both cooking the carrots and lentils.

  2. When carrots and lentils are cooked, let them cool. When they are cooled, add carrots in 2 batches to blender. Add first batch of carrots plus 1/4 cup of reserved water from cooking carrots. You can also use regular water. Blend until carrots reach puree consistency. Do the same with the second batch of carrots. Put pureed carrots in a large pan.

  3. Add cooked lentils to the blender along with 1/2 cup of reserved water from cooking lentils. Blend until pureed. Add pureed lentils to pureed carrots in a pan. Add 1/2 cup half-and-half. Heat through without boiling. Add all spices, stirring constantly. Add at least 1/2 teaspoon Cajun spice. Taste to check the flavor. Add salt and pepper, adjust other spices if necessary, going especially generous with Cajun spice.

  4. Before serving, toast sliced almonds in the oven preheated to 350 F for about 5 minutes. Ladle soup in soup bowls. Sprinkle with toasted sliced almonds on top. Grind black pepper over the soup.

Nutrition Facts
Carrot and Lentil Soup with Toasted Almonds
Amount Per Serving
Calories 147 Calories from Fat 36
% Daily Value*
Fat 4g6%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Cholesterol 11mg4%
Sodium 347mg15%
Potassium 460mg13%
Carbohydrates 21g7%
Fiber 8g33%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 7g14%
Vitamin A 10545IU211%
Vitamin C 5.1mg6%
Calcium 65mg7%
Iron 2.1mg12%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Filed Under: Carrots, Gluten Free, Holidays, Legumes, Lentils, Recipe, Soups, Vegetables, Vegetarian Published: Dec 03, 2012 28 Comments

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Comments

  1. vivian

    Aug 31, 2015 at 9:10 am

    Looks like a great soup, why not leave lentils whole for more texture?

    Reply
  2. Lisa

    Dec 22, 2013 at 1:56 pm

    I made a double batch and it is delicious! Even my sceptic husband enjoyed it. I strained the purée through a fine sieve to give it a more silky texture. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe, it’s a keeper

    Reply
    • Julia

      Dec 23, 2013 at 3:03 pm

      Lisa, glad to hear that you both loved the soup! Straining the puree through a fine sieve is not a bad idea for a more sophisticated texture! I am going to make a note of that! 🙂

      Reply
  3. lisa

    Dec 19, 2013 at 3:35 pm

    How much does this yield? I want to know if I should double the recipe

    Reply
    • Julia

      Dec 20, 2013 at 2:55 pm

      Lisa, this makes 4 appetizer size servings (not too large) meant to be served before the main dish.

      Reply
  4. Kara

    Nov 27, 2013 at 4:16 pm

    I made this for our restaurant and the customers loved it…don’t leave out the Cajun spice because it really added a nice flavour to it.

    Reply
    • Julia

      Dec 07, 2013 at 4:06 am

      Kara, thanks for stopping by and letting me know that you and your customers liked the soup! 🙂 I agree – I would not leave out the Cajun spice – it really adds a lot to this soup!

      Reply
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