Silverbeet spinach and lentil soup
When you need a nourishing, lemony and warm dish this silverbeet spinach and lentil soup is definitely one to try. Very easy to make with just some preparation ahead of time to soak the dried pulses and barley. It’s very filling and makes for a great family meal on cold winter nights.
A soup with a meaning
I first made this dish during the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. I added ingredients I already had in the pantry/fridge and ones I thought would work well together… And they really did! I was skeptical if my girls would try it. However, they both did and I remember I ended up adding more in the bowl. Something that always makes us mums happy to see.
Since then, I found out that there is a version of this silverbeet spinach and lentil soup in the Lebanese cuisine called “Adas bi Hamod”. The name translates to “lentils in lemon”, which are two of the necessary ingredients. The traditional soup includes silverbeet, green lentils and potatoes (some variations include carrots also). Thanks to Maya Mesimeris for sharing her knowledge with me and her family’s recipe.
Ingredients used
Leafy greens are ideal to get a portion of your daily iron requirements, lots of vitamins, mineral and fibre. Using both silverbeet and baby spinach they add different layers of texture and a kind of sweetness to the soup. The important part is not to cook them for a long time, so they don’t lose their nutritional value. Hence why I tend to add each at different times and towards the end of the cooking process.
The soup mix I used included a variety of pulses as well as wheat (barley). It’s a very affordable product that can make a dish very filling, especially soups. The only small downside is that you need to soak it before cooking to help hydrate them for a quicker cooking time and better digestion.
To flavour the soup I added brown onion, garlic, tomato paste, lemon juice and fennel seeds to add to the zing! Vitamin C is always welcomed to keep our immune system on a high, especially in the winter months. And of course, a very popular soup for that is the Greek egg lemon soup – avgolemoni!
For more soup creations, traditional and non, check out this link!
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- 250 g soup mix – includes split lentils/peas and pearl barley, dried
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small brown onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 ½ tbs tomato paste
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 3 L hot water
- 1 tbs salt
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 8 green silverbeet/chard leaves (stalk included), washed and dried
- 100 g baby spinach leaves, washed and dried
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Allow the soup mix to soak overnight for at least 18hours, rinse, strain and set aside. When you are ready to start making the soup, fry the onions until they are softened, then stir the garlic, tomato paste and seeds for 1min until fragrant.
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Pour in the hot water (using a kettle to speed the process). Bring all the ingredients to a boil before you add the soaked soup mix and salt. Allow it to cook for 25min on its own. In the meantime, prepare the greens. Half the silverbeet along the length then chop the silverbeet coarsely, not fine as it will wilt while cooking. Once you do, add the silverbeet in a bowl with plenty of water so that the stalks do not turn black. You may wish to chop the spinach also, I left it as it was.
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Once the 25min pass, pour in the lemon juice and add the chopped silverbeet for 15min. Lastly, after the 15min add the spinach leaves for a further 3-5min, just enough time to wilt. Serve warm with some crusty bread and olives.
