Soup is one of the ultimate witchy dishes for me. Mixing all of the ingredients together in one pan and getting a balanced, tasty meal that’s full of flavour and goodness, is magical. You can tweak the ingredients to match your mood, your fridge or your intentions. It works for any time of the day and it can be frozen for an easy meal on days you can’t be bothered.
You can leave out the carrots, celery and chilli. You can use a mild or hot chilli powder. Add more garlic, or change up the herbs if you choose, but this recipe is how I enjoy it best.
INGREDIENTS
- Oil
- 1 Onion
- 1 stick of Celery
- 1 Carrot
- 2 cloves of Garlic
- 1 Chilli
- 2tbsp Tomato Puree
- Sprig of Rosemary
- 1tsp Chilli Powder
- 100g Red Lentils
- 1 440g tin of Tomatoes
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- Salt, to taste
Optional: Creme Fraiche & mixed seeds to serve.
Serves 4
METHOD
- To begin, prep your ingredients, get everything to hand and weigh out the lentils and make up your stock, if needed. Finely chop the onion, celery, garlic and chilli, and peel and grate the carrot. How finely you chop the ingredients is up to you. If you like a chunky soup or will blend it later, you can roughly chop.
- Heat the oil in your cauldron (or a large saucepan will do) over a low heat, then add the onions to the pan. Stir to mix them through the oil and cook gently for 5 minutes until they start to go soft. Stirring from time to time.
- Next add the carrot, celery, garlic and chilli to the onions and mix it all together. Cook for another 5 minutes, still on low.
- Then mix in your tomato puree, chilli powder and sprigs of rosemary. Or use around 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary. If you are adding any other herbs or spices to this soup, I’d also add them in here.
- Next your your lentils and tinned tomatoes get added to the pot. Stir it all together, try to gently break up the tomatoes if using whole ones.
- Finally add your stock and black pepper and give it a good stir.
- Turn the heat up to full and bring the soup to a boil. Once you’ve got it boiling, turn the heat back down and leave to simmer for 20 minutes or so, until the lentils are cooked. Stir it every now and then to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom.
You can add extra intention here by stirring in shapes, sigils or words. Or simply pay attention to whether you stir clockwise or anti-clockwise. Remember clockwise to invite in and anti-clockwise to remove.
- Give it a taste and add salt, if it needs it. If you have use fresh rosemary, you can remove the stems.
- Depending on how you like your soup, you can blend it or eat it as it is. I like to give it a quick blend to thicken it up a little, but also leave it with a little bite.
My favourite way to serve this soup is with a dollop of creme fraiche, a sprinkle of seeds and, obviously, some bread and butter.
Make it Magic
While you are making the soup, add each ingredient with gratitude. Say Thank You to the plants, the farmers, the workers, the sun, the earth, the rain – everything that has made it possible to get these ingredients into your hands. Gratitude is such a strong practice and making it a part of your cooking rituals can help to encourage it in other areas of your life too.
For more mindful cooking ideas, I have written a post including 12 ways to add mindfulness to your cooking.
