Lebanese Style Spinach and Lentil Soup

This delicious soup is simple to prepare and packed with nutritious ingredients. It is the perfect soup if you need to build up your iron levels. Both lentils and green veggies are high in iron, and the lemon juice will help with absorption.  This soup is wonderful all year round, but is especially good as the nights begin to cool down.

What you will need:

• Olive oil
• 2 medium brown onions
• 2 cups of green or brown lentils
• 2 litres of water
• 2 litres of vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon of cumin
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• A large bunch of Swiss chard OR English spinach OR kale
• Juice of half a lemon
• Coriander or mint, or a combination of both.

What you need to do:

1.  Roughly chop the brown onions and cook over a low heat for about 5 minutes.

2.  Add the crushed garlic and stir quickly, add the cumin and cinnamon stick and stir for about 30 seconds.

3.  Add the rinsed and drained lentils and mix well before adding the stock and water.

4.  Bring soup to the boil and then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for about 30 to 40 minutes until the lentils are tender but still firm.

5.  Rinse the chard or spinach and chop into 1 cm strips and then add to the soup. Simmer gently for a further 5 minutes if using spinach, 10 minutes if using chard or 15 minutes if using kale.

6.  Add lemon juice and chopped herbs. Season to taste.