Masoor Malka - Whole Masoor Dal. 7 Pounds of yummy red lentils!

In a previous blog post, I gave the recipe for Spicy Red Lentil Soup.  Now, may of us have seen or had lentil soup - it's a standard item, pretty popular here in America.  Indeed, I'm pretty sure that both Campbell and Progresso make their own versions of the soup.  But these soups are made with your "regular" brown lentil.  They're tasty and all - but what about the red lentil ?

This 7 pound bag of Red Lentils (Masoor Malka)
is packed with inexpensive, healthy nutrition!

Red Lentil Soup - Quick, spicy, and filling!

Lentils and other legumes are nutritional powerhouses!  They are high in fiber and low in calories, plus they fill you up and taste oh so good :)  When you combine them with rice, they also give you a complete amino acid profile i.e. they help you get a complete protein.  While I love meat, I like to remind people that you can get all your nutrition that you need from vegetables.  Just be sure to pick up some B-12 supplements, not a bad idea for veggies and meat eaters alike!

A pile of red lentils. 

This recipe calls for red lentils, which are a smaller version of your standard brown lentil.  The advantages are are a slightly different nutritional profile, a beautiful color - and cooking time.  Red lentils cook very quickly and do not need to be soaked like other lentils.  You can just chuck em in the pot and cook as is :)

It should take about 20 minutes to prepare this soup and about 35-40 minutes to cook it.  After you know how to make it, you can probably do the whole shebang in about 50 minutes.

For the yogurt you dollop on at the end, I recommend FAGE Greek yogurt.  This, IMHO, is the superior brand of supermarket-available Greek yogurt.  You can usually get a nice tub of it on sale for between $1 and $1.75.