I’ve shared an Aadess recipe before, made with meat. Today’s healthy vegan soup recipe I cook more often, specifically during the colder seasons.
My children (count that 2 out of 3) and I equally enjoy Shorba Aadess. Especially with chunks of crusty bread to dunk in it.
Aadess
A soup packed full of vegetables and lentils and spiced heavily with cumin. Flavoured with both tomato paste and fresh tomato for a more balanced tomato flavour.
Where there is cumin and tomato, garlic is not far behind. This soup uses a mere two cloves along with an onion, but they are finely grated (or minced) which intensifies their flavour.
I make Aadess weekly during the colder seasons. My children particularly like it. They fail to notice the turnip and courgette in the soup, which in other circumstances they would turn their noses up at. The trick is to peel and dice the disliked vegetables smaller than the potato which children are more accustomed to eating.
As I mentioned, the soup is heavy on vegetables. If you would like a more traditional recipe, or don’t have the mentioned vegetables available it’s easy; remove as many as the vegetables as you like (except the carrot) and increase the lentils to 3/4 or 1 cup. Depending on how thick you want the soup to be.
If you prefer a stew simply reduce the amount of water you add to the pot from 1.5 to 1 litre. Adjust seasoning accordingly.
My method for preparing the lentils (see recipe below) is an extra step, optional but highly recommended. Especially if you have a bag of old lentils. See The Kitchn’s 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Cooking Lentils.
