A soul-warming Moroccan sweet potato lentil soup recipe that makes the whole house smell warm and cozy!
Soup’s are an absolute amazing way to get a bucket load of nutrients into your bowl and that’s exactly what I wanted out of this bowl.
I am currently looking after a friend who has just had some pretty major surgery. Anytime that we have surgery our bodies are put under stress. Stress from the physical side of the surgery, but also the stress from the anesthesia and the subsequent pain killers.
These things put a great deal of stress on our bodies internally, mainly through their effect on the gut. Providing the body with easily digestable foods, as in soups, gives the gut a little bit of a break, allows it to work less to breakdown our food.
Foods that help rebuild the population of microbes in our gut are also useful. Foods like onions, garlic, vegetables and bone broth.
Not only does this dish provide a little relief for our gut it is also packed with the nutrition needed to promote wound healing. An important part of any surgery recovery.
The hero of this dish, the humble sweet potato, really packs a healing punch through it’s Vitamin A content.
Vitamin A is helpful for both our immune system and epithelial integrity, that’s the outer layer of skin not only on our body but also on the outer surfaces of organs and blood vessels throughout the body. We most certainly want this to heal nicely (and quickly).
When we think of our immune system most of us think about viruses and bacteria but it also plays a big role in healing after something like surgery. Our immune system also has a role to play in our inflammatory response. Ensuring that our immune system is responsive to turn on and off our inflammatory response is needed for healing. It is through the regulation of the immune response that Vitamin A lets the body know when to start making collagen.
It’s not just the Vitamin A content that helps with the skin to heal. The beta-carotene from the carrot and the Vitamin C from the capsicum are also very important for skin health. Vitamin C helps the body make collagen. And both beta-carotene and Vitamin C are power anti-oxidants, helping the body recover from the anesthesia.
One of my biggest critisims of soups is often their lack of protein. And protien is critical for our body to heal. Our body is made up of protein. Our skin is made from protein. When we consume protein our body breaks it down into individual amino acids, then puts them back together in the best way to support what our body needs. Collagen is particularly important for skin repair.
To help boost the protein content in this Moroccan Sweet Potato + Lentil Soup, I have included the lentils. They are easy on the digestive system but also help with a nice little fibre boost.
If you would like to dive a little deeper into wound healing this article is just the place – Nutrition and Wound Healing.
This Moroccan Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup is super easy to chuck together. And there is an option for using the stove top and canned lentils or the slow cooker and uncooked lentils. It’s simplicity, it’s a warm, FEEL GOOD food.
What do I need?
- 400-500g sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into small pieces
- 1 cup of Carrots, chopped
- 1 Leek, chopped
- 1 cup of Celery, chopped
- 1 Red Capsicum, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 1 ½ cups Brown lentils, rinsed and picked over or 2 tins, drained
- 1 ½ teaspoon of Coriander, ground
- 1 ½ teaspoon of Cumin, ground
- 1 teaspoon curry powder (or more to taste)
- ½ teaspoon of Smoked Paprika,
- ½ teaspoon of Cinnamon, ground
- ½ teaspoon of Turmeric
- 6-7 cups of Broth (vegetable or chicken)
- 2 ½ cups Baby Spinach
- ¼ cup lemon juice
Let’s Do This!
STOVE TOP
- Place the onion or leek with the garlic in a large pot and cook for 5 minutes with the lid on to soften.
- Stir in the spices, cooking for a minute until aromatic.
- Place the sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, capsicum and 6 cups of broth into the pot. If you are using the uncooked lentils, also add these here.
- Cover and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the sweet potato and carrots are cooked and the lentils are soft. Around 30 minutes. If you have used the tinned lentils add them in after 20 minutes, leaving them to absorb the flavours for the last 10 minutes.
- Place half the soup into a blender and blend till smoothish. Alternately, you can use an immersion blender directly in the pot but be sure to not blend all of the soup if you want it to have a chunkier texture.
- Add the puree back into the pot. Stir in the baby spinach and lemon juice. Cover and allow the ingredients to just hang out for 30 minutes or so until the spinach wilts down.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste as desired. Thin with additional broth to desired consistency if needed.
SLOW COOKER
- Place the onion or leek with the garlic in a small fry pan, cook for 5 minutes with the lid on to soften.
- Stir in the spices, cooking for a minute until aromatic.
- Place the uncooked lentils, sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, capsicum and 6 cups of broth into the slow cooker with the onion spice mix.
- Cover and cook on the low setting for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. Check the lentils for doneness.
- Place half the soup into a blender and blend till smoothish. Alternately, you can use an immersion blender directly in the pot but be sure to not blend all of the soup if you want it to have a chunkier texture.
- Add the puree back into the pot. Stir in the baby spinach and lemon juice. Cover and allow the ingredients to just hang out for 30 minutes or so until the spinach wilts down.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste as desired. Thin with additional broth to desired consistency if needed.
I served mine with crumbled goats cheese, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and coriander on top! But you can use coconut yoghurt in place of the goats cheese for a non-dairy, vegan alternative.
Serves 4
Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan, Lactose Free