orange-coloured vegetable soup

We enjoyed this soup which I put together last night. It went down so well that I've decided to record it here to share it with other members of Nibblous - and cook it again myself!

1 litre stock
3 tablespoons orange lentils
4-5 medium potatoes, thinly sliced

olive oil for cooking
2 onions, chopped
3-4 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
3 carrots
quarter of a cauliflower, broken up into tiny florets
heaped teaspoon turmeric
1 dried red chilli, chopped very finely indeed
quarter of a small spring cabbage, finely sliced
small handful chopped parsley for garnish

Heat stock in saucepan and add finely-sliced potatoes and the orange lentils. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes and lentils are soft.

In a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, gently cook onions until soft, but not browned. Add finely-sliced celery and the garlic. Fry gently for a few minutes, then add cauliflower florets and very thinly-sliced carrots. Stir and fry until the cauliflower begins to soften. Check that the pan hasn’t dried out too much; if it has, add another slosh of oil. Add heaped teaspoonful of turmeric and the finely chopped dried red chilli; stir well to coat everything.

Now, add the fried vegetables and the finely-shredded cabbage to the stock, potato and lentil mixture. Allow to cook for a few minutes, then apply the stick blender, causing some of the soup to turn to purée, but not all of it. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.

Nice served with chilli flakes, if you like that kind of thing.