I didn’t think I liked lentils because all I had been exposed to were the green ones, and I just cant get totally on board with them. I then realized that there is more than one type of lentil! There are RED lentils, and BLACK Lentils, and FRENCH green lentils, YELLOW lentils… Okay Legumes, we are back in business. My favorite out of all of them is definitely the red ones which is a yellow lentils with the hull removed. I think the biggest reason I like them so much is because they take the least amount of time to cook and I am super impatient.
Here is the nutritional profile for 1 cup of salted cooked Red Lentils:
17 Grams of Protein! Yessssss Thats awesome for my vegetarians, weekday vegetarians, and vegans out there!
71 mg Magnesium
38 mg Calcium
356 mg Phosphorus
731 mg Potassium
15 g Fiber
You can see that they are pretty loaded with nutrition!
Red lentils even have antioxidants! I would not have thought that they contained flavonoids since I mentally tucked them into the “meal filler” family along with rice, pasta, and potatoes. It is important to get plant derived nutrients in your diet due to their powerful effect on combatting oxidative stress. This soup is loaded with turmeric which is well known for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. There are actually more antioxidants in the hull of the lentil than the lentil seed itself, so what is taken out by removing the hull of the lentil seed is more than made up for by including turmeric. Naturally I will have to do entire post on turmeric given the quantity of knowledge we have on this amazing ingredient so stay tuned!
In the meantime, here is the recipe for this Indian Inspired Creamy Red Lentil Soup!
Click HERE to download and print this recipe:
