Spiced Potato & Red Lentil Soup

I have teamed up with a Scottish produce company and I am now a Scotty Brand Girl.

"Scotty Brand is a family-run Scottish company based in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire.

Founding the company in 1948, shipyard worker Albert Bartlett invested £30 in an old water boiler and a cast-iron bath, in order to set up a small beetroot-boiling operation, in Coatbridge, under the Scotty Brand name.

Ronnie Bartlett is Albert’s grandson and proudly heads up the company today. Working with a number of farmers across Scotland, Albert Bartlett then grades, washes and packs Scotty Brand potatoes. "

You can meet the farmers here. I love that the company call their farmers their family. You can even find out which farmer grew your potatoes from the pack.


I am starting off with some of their Kestral Potatoes, which are recognisable by their distinctive blue-purple eyes and cream-coloured skin. They are oval in shape and have a creamy texture. 


Cooper and I tried making raspberry Scottish macaroon bars, but the less said about them the better. The texture was just wrong, sticky, gloopy glue, instead of creamy fondant. I think if I attempt them again I will use a raspberry oil instead of fresh raspberries.


So on to my soup. Spiced Potato & Red Lentil Soup. We had this for lunch today and we all enjoyed it. Cooper had a little milk in his to make the flavour a little milder, although it isn't hot spicy, just flavourful.

Tweet

print recipe

Spiced Potato and Red Lentil Soup

Written by Jacqueline Meldrum

April 08, 2012

A warming bowl of soup. Fragrant spices, creamy lentils and lovely big chunks of potato makes this soup a real winner.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cm piece ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• a good pinch of chilli powder
• 4 medium potatoes, chopped into chunks (1 cm approx)
• 1 cup (or poured up to the ½ pint mark in a measuring jug) red lentils
• 4 cups/2 pints vegetable stock
• a handful of fresh coriander, chopped
• freshly ground salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Saute the onion, garlic and fresh ginger until the onion is soft and translucent.2. Add the spices and mix well. Add a splosh of water to prevent the spiced onions from sticking to the pan. 3. Add the potatoes and lentils, then pour in the stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes until the potatoes and lentils are tender.4. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then add the fresh coriander and serve.note: For a delicious dal, cook the soup for longer until really thick and serve with rice and naan bread or chapatis.

Details

Total time: 45 mins Yield: Serves 4-6

I am entering my soup into this month's Simple and in Season hosted by Ren over at Fabulicious Food. The event is open for entries until the 30th April 2012. There is a wee linky at the end of the post, if you want to add your entries.

I am also sending it into Wellness Weekends hosted by Ricki over at Diet, Dessert & Dogs. Wellness Weekend is a weekly or should I say weekend event which features the best of Vegan recipes using whole foods and no refined flours or sugars.

And last but not least, I am sending it to Utterly Srummy who is hosting Frugal Food Fridays this month. Frugal Food Fridays was set up by Helen over at Fuss Free Flavours and champions being Frugal in the Kitchen. 

Disclosure Statement: I received potatoes from Scotty Brand to cook with. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.