Red Lentil, Zucchini & Couscous Soup

LUv 2 BaKE's Note:

Don't let the name turn you off! This soup has a nice thick consistency that is nice and flavorful. A perfect blend of vegetables, legumes and grains. I personally do not like the texture of couscous when eaten like rice or pasta yet I LOVE this soup! Leftovers freeze well. Recipe from "Meal Lean i Yum!"

• Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 large onion , chopped
• 1 stalk celery , chopped
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 4 medium carrots , grated
• 2 medium zucchini , grated
• 1 cup red lentil , rinsed and drained
• 6 cups vegetable broth or 6 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt , to taste (optional)
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• 1⁄3; cup couscous

Directions:

1. Grate carrots and zucchini, set aside.
2. Heat oil in a 5 quart soup pot; add onions and celery; saute on medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes or until golden.
3. If vegetables begin to stick, add a tbsp or two of water.
4. Add all ingredients except couscous to the pot, increase to high heat to bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add couscous and simmer an additional 10 minutes.
7. If soup is too thick, thin it with a little bit of water.
8. Adjust seasonings to taste.
9. Yield 8 servings - per serving: 134cal, 1g fat, 8g protein, 24g carb, 3mg iron, 8g fibre.

Reviews

[danakscully64]

This recipe was very good! I didn't find it to be bland, but I made very tiny modifications. I used extra celery in place of some of the carrots (grating baby carrots takes too much patience), instead of regular vegetable broth, I used beef-style veg broth, and as suggested by LuckyDog, added a tiny bit of garlic powder. I only had whole wheat cous cous, so I used that as well. I will be making this again. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

[LuckyDog]

As some other reviewers said, I found this soup to be a bit bland, at first. I threw in some chopped fresh tomato, for color, and added the following to kick up the flavor a bit: garlic powder, onion powder, lemon juice & a bit of curry powder. I never even added the cous cous because I realized I didn't have any. But, once I added the other spices, the soup was really good. My 4 & 3 year olds loved it - with lots of fresh bread to soak up the broth!

[MC Baker]

What a lovely soup! It was so tasty I actually said Wow! after I tried it. I did make a couple modifications. I didn't have zucchini, so I added extra celery. Also I was worried there wasn't going to be enough flavor so I added 2 garlic cloves (to the recipe halved). The garlic probably wasn't necessary, but was really good in this. I also used beef broth instead of vegetable. I, like Annisette don't usually like celery, but even with the extra, since I diced it all really small and cooked it down with the onions, it was just in the background and added to the flavor.