Step 1

Check the lentils on a plate as they sometimes contain small stones in the original package and rinse them.
Wash the onion and garlic.
Cut the onion into small pieces.
Cut the garlic in half and crush it with the flat part of your knife.

Step 2

Preheat your cooking pot, medium heat, add 2 tbsp of olive oil.
Saute the onion and garlic for about 2 min till they are glazed.
Add the lentils, thyme, the chili and canned tomatoes and saute for another 2 min.

Step 3

Add 1,2l of water, add the bay leave and bring it to boil.
Cook it under medium heat for about 30 min.
Note: Do not add any salt at this stage as this will prolong your cooking time significantly.

Step 4

As soon as the lentils are soft turn off the heat.
Squeeze the fresh lemon.
Add 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper and the lemon juice to the soup and stir it with a spoon. Let it sit for 2 min. Add some more salt and lemon juice according to your taste.
Serve the soup. Garnish it with fresh basil leaves and add the olive oil on top.
Try out different garnishes like fresh coriander, avocado to get different variants of tastes.

When you buy canned tomatoes check the list of ingredients. Best taste you get with those which contain pure tomatoes only and are not filled up with tomato juice.

Enjoy!

* Nutrition details:

Glycemic load (GL): Indicates how much glucose your meal contains and how this will affect the insulin reaction in your body. You can use a total consumption value of 100g GL per day as orientation. Meaning, if you have 3 meals per day, try to stay below the 33g GL per meal to avoid overconsumption of natural sugar. For example one average banana peeled (100g) comes with a GL of 16. One small portion of white rice (40g uncooked) has a GL of 22.

Protein / 100 kcal: In order to have a filling meal and to ensure to achieve the recommended minimum protein intake of 0.8g protein / kg body weight per day a ration of more than 3g protein / 100 kcal is a good orientation for this indicator for each meal.

Vitamins and minerals: Percentages represent the percentage of recommended daily intake (based on FDA’s Daily Value). Mentioned vitamins and minerals have a particular high nutritional density in this dish. Means, if you would only eat this dish for one day, you would easily exceed the 100% of recommended daily intake for the mentioned mineral or vitamin. Please take into account that these values are just for orientation and might vary depending on your individual situation e.g. if you are a professional athlete, pregnant etc.

Costs: Approx. costs of organic ingredients in Germany