One of the best things about being a recipe creator is finding new ways to use staple ingredients in the kitchen, sometimes in new and exciting ways. Elsie at AFROVITALITYEATS is a talented and creative recipe developer who finds delicious new ways to use old-time favorites.
She developed this recipe for Obe Ata Lentil Soup, and it does a fantastic job of incorporating our Obe Ata West African Tomato Soup into a simple, comforting, nutritious soup that packs a powerful protein punch – without any meat!
Why We Love This Obe Ata Lentil Soup
This lentil soup ticks all the boxes – cozy, fast, flavorful, and nutritious. It relies on our Obe Ata West African Tomato Soup as a base so it can be on your table in under an hour.
Lentils: Nutrition Powerhouse
Lentils, technically edible seeds in the legume family, are rich in a variety of nutrients. There are a bunch of different types of lentils, including brown, Puy, green, yellow, red, and beluga lentils. We use green lentils in this recipe.
While different types of lentils can vary in their nutritional makeup, they do have some consistent benefits. They’re rich in B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, potassium, and iron, which are all micronutrients your body needs to function at its best. They’re also a great protein source, made up of more than 25% protein, which makes them a good choice for those following a plant-based diet.
Lentils are also rich in something called polyphenols, which are a type of health-promoting phytochemical (a plant-based compound). Many of the polyphenols in lentils have been found to have strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
All of these qualities of lentils come together to help this soup be a great meal for a cozy winter dinner that’ll keep the notorious wintertime flu far from reach. The high protein content can keep you full and satisfied, while the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits can help you keep feeling your healthiest.
True Comfort Cooking
In addition to knowing that you’re serving your body and your health by cooking with nutritious lentils, you can take even more comfort in how easily this dish comes together, and how perfect it is for those nights that you want nothing more than to curl up in your pajamas.
Everything about this meal comes together in one pot, and while you let it simmer for all those delicious flavors to come together, you can light a candle, read a book, or cue up your favorite TV show or movie to watch. Then, once you’re done eating, you have fewer dishes to deal with. That sounds like the pinnacle of comfort cooking!
Seasonal Ingredients
It’s not just the lentils that pack a nutritious punch in this recipe. It also sports in-season spinach, a healthy green that adds a touch of freshness to this hearty soup.
Cooking with in-season produce, like the spinach in this recipe, helps ensure that you’re cooking with fresh and high-quality produce. It also usually means that it’s richer in flavor. It’s a great way to get the most out of each trip to the grocery store, and keep cooking exciting as you explore different produce throughout the year.
For her stew, Elsie uses spinach that she grew herself. This recipe is a great opportunity to use any home-grown produce you might have on hand and participate in a little personal farm-to-table cooking! Or, if you participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, and you have produce regularly delivered, it’s a great chance to use up anything you have before your next delivery!
Egunsi Foods Kitchen Staples
Sometimes at the end of a long day, the last thing you want to do is run out to the grocery store. That’s where those ingredients that you always keep in your kitchen can be a life-saver – we like to call them our kitchen essentials. You’ll always have something on hand that can help you throw together a delicious and satisfying meal, no matter when you need it.
Egunsi Foods’ products make perfect kitchen essentials. They can help you pull together easy meals like this lentil soup all winter long. Plus, if you have leftovers, you can put it back on the stove and let it reduce until it’s a thick and sumptuous stew. Then, serve it over rice. You’ll get even more benefits from the lentils that way – eating lentils together with rice creates a complete protein, meaning they have all the components your body needs to make its own proteins.
Our soups can also be great meals all on their own, or you can use them to get another meal off the ground. Our sauces can help elevate the flavor and put a new spin on a dish you know by heart.
If you’re looking for something to keep you excited about cooking this winter, stock your pantry with Egunsi Foods!
Elsie & AFROVITALITYEATS
Elsie is a food photographer, recipe creator, and blogger. She and her mother are both from Cameroon, and she draws a lot of her West African inspiration from cooking with her mother throughout her childhood. Elsie cherishes these memories, and she hopes to continue to share those feelings of enjoying delicious food with those you care about.
We love working with Elsie, because just like us here at Egunsi Foods, she loves to explore West African flavors in both a traditional and cross-cultural way.
Check out and follow Elsie on Instagram @afrovitalityeats!
How to Make Obe Ata Lentil Soup
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 50 mins
Total time: 55 mins
Servings: Feeds 4 to 6 people
Soup Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons avocado or olive oil
1 cup chopped sweet onions
1 Tablespoon minced or grated garlic
½ Tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 jar of Egunsi Foods Obe Ata Soup
1 ½ cups rinsed green lentils
2 handfuls of baby spinach (or kale)
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking Directions
- Heat the oil in a medium saucepan and saute the onions for 3-5 minutes until cooked; they should be translucent and just starting to brown.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Then add the cumin, garam masala, and curry powder, and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Pour in the Obe Ata Soup, then cover and let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the lentils, 3 cups of water, and 2 pinches of salt. Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes until the lentils are tender. While cooking, occasionally stir or add more water (a cup at a time) if the lentils need additional time to reach desired tenderness.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Enjoy!