Shorbat Adas (Lebanese Lentil Soup)

This is another soup that I ran across while looking for inspiration for our weekly soup production. I was searching for flavorful vegan and gluten free soups that we could turn into production for our services and came across this gem. It's a Middle Eastern lentil soup that is bursting with flavors from the variety of spices, and creamy from the red lentils, potatoes, and carrots that create the base. There are a fair amount of variations on this, but I decided to make it my own by adding some fermented items, and freekeh which is a staple middle eastern grain. I have previously used it in my Chicken & Freekeh with Sausage Soup where I go into a bit of detail about the grain itself.

I've been playing around with garlic and have made both fermented and black garlic. Keeping this vegetarian and adding both fermented garlic for it's sharp pungent flavor, and black garlic for it's rich umami depth. I don't generally add other ingredients to my fermented garlic, I just keep it salt, water, and garlic, but the end result is a rich strong garlic flavor. Additionally, I used my preserved lemons in the soup with the addition of fresh lemon juice and zest to brighten the soup.

As I mentioned there are a ton of variations to this, but the main concept is to add spice, vegetables, and red lentils then cook until everything is broken down and almost homogeneous. From there you do a quick blitz with your hand blender (or blending) and add more seasoning to finish. The freekeh gave this soup a touch of texture, but there are many things you could add to give it more of your own concept to this.

Enjoy

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Ingredients

• freekeh 1 cup

• red lentils 3 cups

• water 3 qts + 3 cups (freekeh)

• carrots, peeled and chopped 3 ea

• potatoes, peeled and chopped 2 ea

• onions, chopped 2 ea

• fermented garlic, sliced 3 T

• vegetable base 2 T

• black garlic paste* 2 T

• preserved lemon, minced 2 T

• lemon, zested and juiced 2 ea

• cumin 3 tsp

• turmeric 3 tsp

• sumac 3 tsp

• oil 2 T

• salt and pepper to taste

*if you don't have black garlic paste, increase the vegetable stock, but keep an eye on the salt level as those will add salt with their flavor

Garnish

Cilantro, dehydrated lemon wheel (feel free to swap to a regular lemon wheel), extra virgin olive oil, sumac

Method of Procedure

1. Heat your pan then add oil.

2. Put your onions and sliced fermented garlic into the pot and cook while stirring until translucent.

3. Add your potatoes, preserved lemon, and carrots, then stir to evenly disperse everything.

4. Add your black garlic paste and your vegetable base and cook while stirring to evenly coat.

5. Add your spices and red lentils then cook while stirring to coat the lentils.

6. Once evenly coated, add your water (minus the 3 cups for freekeh) then bring to a simmer. Cook until the lentils are tender.

7. While the soup is simmering cook your freekeh with the 3 cups of water and a touch of salt. Remove from heat and cool.

8. Puree the soup soup briefly and add your freekeh.

9. Season to taste and serve, garnish accordingly.