Length 6.22 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil (or sauté in stick/water)
• 1- 2 onions, peeled and diced
• 4-5 carrots, diced
• 150g sweetcorn
• 2 peppers (red/yellow/orange)
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 litre vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
• 6 oz (170g) red lentils, rinsed and picked over
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• (optional) pinch of cayenne
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

(Ideally the vegetables for this recipe should weight 960 kg to allow for 3 portions of veg per serve/person)

Instructions

1. Heat oil/water/stock in a large stockpot over medium-high heat.  Sauté the onion, peppers, and carrots and for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and translucent.  Add the garlic and sauté for 1 more minute, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.

2. Stir in the vegetable stock, lentils, corn, cumin, curry powder (plus cayenne, if using) until combined.  Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer.  Then cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are completely tender.

3. Using either a hand blender or traditional blender, puree the soup until it reaches your desired consistency.  You may need to do this in batches if you’re using a traditional blender.  And always be careful, since hot liquids expand while blending.  (I like to leave my soup slightly chunky, but you can make yours as smooth as you’d like.)

Return the pureed soup to the pot and stir in the lemon zest and juice until combined.  Taste and season the soup with sea salt and black pepper as needed.  (I use about ½ teaspoon black pepper.)