Lentil soup is quintessential in Turkish cuisine. It is my go to soup whenever I am not sure what to cook. I basically grew up on this soup. I had it at home and at the school cafeteria growing up and at late night soup shops to fight off hangovers during college.

Lentil soup is my idea of cozy. It is my kind of comfort food. Whenever it is cold or rainy, whenever I feel a bit under the weather, I crave lentil soup. Lately, with the nonstop rain in Seattle, this variation of classic lentil soup brought much needed warmth to our bellies at home.

This soup is creamy with the added crunch of the chard stems. I like layering textures in soups. In this soup, the crunchiness of the chard stems is a nice surprise without taking away from the flavors. The chili oil drizzled at the end, ties everything together with a nice kick.

I learned the trick of adding chard stems to lentil soup from my mom. I grew up in a household where food is never wasted. My mom would make a dish with chards and she would save the stems for salads and soups. This is probably not the exact same soup she used to make but it is my take on her recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Yields: 6-8 servings Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)

1 1/2 cup red lentils

1 cup chopped chard stems

2 cups stock (if you don’t have stock, use 2 cups of water)

4 cups water

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

For the chili oil:

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons marash chili flakes (or red pepper flakes)

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in a pot over high heat.

2. Add the diced onions and cook over high heat, stirring a couple of times, for 2-3 minutes until the onions are translucent.

3. Rinse the lentils under cold water until the water runs clear. Add the lentils into the pot and give everything a stir.

4. Add in the cumin, salt and pepper.

5. Add in the stock and the water and give everything a stir.

6. Bring the soup to a boil and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils are soft and cooked.

7. Reduce the heat to low and using a hand blender, blend the soup until creamy. If you don’t have a hand blender, you can use a smoothie blender too.

8. Add in the chopped chard stems and simmer the soup for another 5-7 minutes.

9. In the meantime, prepare the chili oil. Add the butter and the chili flakes to a small pot or saucepan and turn on the heat. Let the butter melt completely and let it bubble for a minute. The chili is going to give a red color to the melted butter.

10. Remove the hot chili oil from heat and pour on the soup. If you want you can save some to drizzle over individual servings as well.

Enjoy!

Last week’s temperature drop in Seattle resulted in me making soup in the middle of August. Given my love of all things with satisfying broths, breaking the rules around soup is totally acceptable, right? Like that time two weeks ago another temperature drop resulted in me getting ramen for lunch followed by a bun bo hue the day after. As long as you have soup in life, everything will eventually be ok.

This yogurt soup, known as “yayla” soup in Turkish is very common in home cooking and is extremely easy to make. The classic recipe only uses rice, but I had some leftover chicken so I threw it in as well. This is the perfect soup to repurpose leftover rice and that rotisserie chicken you bought last week that you are tired of eating.

Soup holds a big part in Turkish cuisine and eating culture. In home cooking, it is a nourishing and economical meal that can feed a large family. It is also a big part of street culture, with late-night soup restaurants frequented after a long day of work or a night out drinking. To this day, nothing makes me feel more at home than a bowl of warm soup. So without further ado, here is my family’s recipe for Yayla Soup.

Yields: 6-8 servings Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

3 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)

2 cups water

1 egg

1 cup plain yogurt

1 lemon’s juice (about 1/4 cup)

2 cups cooked rice

2 cups cooked and shredded chicken (optional)

1/2 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon dried mint flakes

1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes (preferably Marash or Aleppo)

Preparation

1. Put the vegetable oil and the flour into a large pot. Cook over high heat, stirring, until the flour is a little toasted for 3-5 minutes.

2. Pour in the chicken stock and water into the pot and give it a stir. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. While the stock is boiling, prepare the yogurt mixture. In a large bowl, whisk the egg. Add in the lemon juice and the yogurt and whisk until everything is combined.

4. If you add cold yogurt to hot soup, the temperature difference will cause the yogurt to curdle. To avoid this, take one or two ladlefuls of simmering stock and add it into the yogurt mixture. Stir well. This will help warm up the of yogurt and avoid curdling.

5. While stirring the stock with one hand, slowly pour in the warmed-up yogurt mixture into the stock. Keep stirring. Add in the cooked rice, shredded chicken and salt. Bring the soup to a boil again and simmer for 5 more minutes.

6. Turn off the heat. Sprinkle with all the dried mint and the red pepper.

7. Serve while hot with a couple slices of bread on the side. Enjoy!

Lentil Soup with Chard Stems

Ingredients

Preparation

Yogurt Soup with Chicken

Ingredients

Preparation