You thought radishes were just a garnish for salads and vegetable plates, didn’t you? Think again. Creamy and spicy, Radish Lentil Soup is the perfect way to use up the radishes from your garden on a cold fall day.
Ingredients:
1 C red lentils
3 C water
¾ – 1 lb radishes
½ onion
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp chili pepper
½ tsp cumin
2 C chicken or vegetable broth
1 C sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Wash radishes. If they are big, cut them into about 1” pieces. Put water, lentils, onion and radishes into a pot. Bring to boil, turn down heat and simmer until lentils and radishes are tender, about 20-30 minutes. Most of the water should be absorbed or evaporated by this time.
Put broth and cooked lentils and radishes into a blender. Blend until smooth. You may need to do this in two parts to prevent overfilling the blender pitcher. Before returning the blended soup to the pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic and spices for 2-3 minutes to release the fragrant oils. Pour pureed soup back into pan and bring back to a slow boil. Remove from heat and whisk in the sour cream. Adjust seasonings and salt and pepper to taste.
Notes: The recipe calls for ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, but feel free to add a little more if you like. You want this soup to have a little kick.
The red lentils and red radishes create a pretty pinky-beige soup. If you would like a white soup, substitute 2/3 cup uncooked navy beans (or 2 C cooked or 1 can of beans, rinsed and drained) and use daikon radishes.
