A warming lentil + chestnut soup for the winter season

Qi and yang tonifying lentil and chestnut soup for cold winter days

Here is a recipe for a warming winter soup with hearty lentils and added chestnuts for the perfect seasonal nod. Diet is such an important part of health from the Chinese medicine perspective, and these ingredients are a wonderful combination and antidote to how run down and taxed we can feel at this time of year.

In traditional Chinese medicine (or ‘TCM’) we consider each food to have energetic properties - such as warming or cooling, or tonifying of the qi of a particular organ such as the Spleen or Kidney.

The lentils here are an ideal qi tonic, giving out slow, steady energy to fuel us. Meanwhile the chestnuts are a warm and sweet yang tonic to fuel our metabolism and keep our bodies' functions supplied with the energy they need to maintain us in good health, with the added benefit of being considered to help resolve ‘blood stagnation’ making them an especially great food for early in your cycle.

This soup, based on a Nigella Lawson recipe, is fairly simple and foolproof to whip up and tastes delicious. A great one to impress the in-laws if you’re looking to appear wholesome and effortlessly culinary this Christmas. It goes as follows:

Ingredients

• 225g red lentils, thoroughly rinsed under cold water

• 1 tablespoon butter or ghee (replace with olive oil if dairy free)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 red onion, roughly chopped

• 1 leek, washed and roughly chopped

• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped

• 1 – 2 litres vegetable stock (either made up with stock cube / bouillon, or make your own for added goodness - I use a recipe from Emma Cannon’s book ‘Fertile’, and inexpensive organic chicken carcasses from Abel & Cole)

• 225g vacuum packed cooked chestnuts

How to make it

1. Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil (or a mix of oil and ghee) into a heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat. Add finely diced onion, leek, carrot and celery and cook until softened (tip: if speed is of the essence, you can blitz all of the vegetable ingredients in the food processor until they are finely minced).

2. Add the lentils, stir well to coat them, then add in stock. Simmer until the lentils are fully cooked, soft and almost mushy.

3. Add the chestnuts and cook everything for further ten minutes.

4. Use a stick blender (or whatever you have) to blend into a smooth, creamy and heartening soup. Add a swirl of cream, if you like, to serve.

Quick, comforting, and perfect for the season. Let us know if you try it!

Acknowledgement: this recipe is based on a Nigella Lawson recipe in her cookbook 'How to Eat'.