Greek lentil soup

This recipe makes a tasty lentil soup, perfect for a low-fat, low-calorie lunch on a cold winter’s day. Containing lentils and tomatoes, it’s suitable for people who follow vegetarian, gluten- or lactose-free, cholesterol-lowering and Mediterranean diets.

• Ingredients
• Method
• Nutritional content

Ingredients

Makes 8 serves 

• 500 g green lentils
• 2 x 400 g canned diced tomatoes
• 1 onion, diced
• 8 cloves garlic
• Bay leaves
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• 2 tsp vinegar
• 2 cups water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Bring lentils to boil for 5 minutes in water and drain.
2. Put back in pan and add all other ingredients. Cook for 30–40 minutes.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Difficulty rating: Easy
Tips

• Serve with wholegrain bread for a fibre-rich meal. Wholegrain cereals like brown bread contain more fibre than their white equivalents. Fibre is an important component of the diet and helps the gastrointestinal system to digest food.
• Spread bread with low-fat cream cheese to add calcium to this meal and provide your teeth and bones with important micronutrients. Dairy products like cream cheese are the best source of calcium and low-fat varieties contain the same amount of calcium as full fat equivalents. Spreading you bread with cream cheese is an especially good idea if you have increased calcium requirements, for example because you are a:
  • Breastfeeding woman; or
  • Adolescent girl or mature woman.
• Check the package labels on canned tomatoes and choose a brand with no added salt or sugar. Choosing packaged foods with no added salt or sugar is an important step you can take to improve your diet and reduce your risk of developing chronic health conditions like obesity, erectile dysfunction, type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome.
• Whizz the soup in the blender for healthy baby food.

This soup is made in Samantha’s kitchen in Main Beach, QLD.

Nutritional content

Nutritional analysis per serve:

Energy	1012.2 kJ 241.9 cal
Protein	16.3 g
Total fat	1.5 g
Saturated fat	0.2 g
Carbohydrates	37.2 g
Total sugars	6.4 g
Fibre	8.8 g
Sodium	345.2 mg
Cholesterol	0 mg
Potassium	847.3 mg

 

More information

For more information on nutrition, including information on types and composition of food, nutrition and people, conditions related to nutrition, and diets and recipes, as well as some useful videos and tools, see Nutrition.