Onion squash and lentil soup

Organic onion squash is back in my regular supermarket! That really is good news. I don't really mind if they don't get any other vegetables in for a while now... or maybe that goes a bit too far, but onion squashes are seriously tasty!

I grabbed a couple of squashes and as the first dish I decided to make the basic classic (at least my personal classic), a vegan soup with onion squash, onions and red lentils. This was really tasty flavoured with some fresh coriander, which turned the colour slightly weirdly into greenish, but that doesn't matter to me. I used my new herb pairing wheel for ideas when creating this recipe. Please have a look below how I made it.

Ingredients

1 medium onion squash

2 onions

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp olive oil

500 ml vegetable stock

½ cup dried red lentils

A handful of fresh coriander

Allspice to taste

Salt to taste

Method

Chop the onions and garlic cloves finely.

Peel the squash and cut it into small cubes.

Start cooking the onions and garlic in a saucepan in olive oil, after a while add the squash cubes.

Stir for a few more minutes and then add the vegetable stock and lentils.

Let simmer until the squash and lentils are fully cooked.

Season the soup, purée it and enjoy!

Even though this is a very basic vegan soup, I want to share the recipe with the No Croutons Required soup and salad cooking challenge, as I'm happy that the soup season is here again and I can use my favourite squashes. The challenge is hosted this month by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes and the co-host for this event is Lisa from Lisa's Kitchen.

Your VegHog

Tomato and red lentil soup

A tomato and lentil soup is a cheap and easy, yet fine alternative for the autumn. It tastes equally nice in the evenings and as lunch and is incredibly filling. I love this type of food in the autumn and winter time.

Here is my basic recipe for a vegan tomato and red lentil soup.

Ingredients

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

400 g cherry tomatoes

1 tbsp olive oil

½ cup red lentils

1 vegetable stock cube

2 tbsp tomato purée

Fresh basil

Salt

Ground black pepper

Chilli flakes

Method

Chop the onion and garlic finely, and also chop the tomatoes. Start cooking the onion and garlic in olive oil, and once they are soft, add the tomatoes. Simmer under lid by occasionally stirring.

Cook the lentils in water in a separate pan with an added vegetable stock cube until they are done. Add them to the tomatoes and season the soup with tomato purée, fresh basil, salt, ground black pepper and chilli flakes to taste.

Enjoy warm with a roll or a slice of bread.

Your VegHog