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!