Moroccan Soup
With the weather turning colder it is time to go back to easy prepare one pot meals and what's better in cold weather than a flavorful pot of spicy soup? While we try to stay as true to an authentic recipe as possible, we choose healthier options whenever possible. This is our healthier version of Harira, Morocco’s famous tomato and lentil soup.
Moroccan soups tend to be served as light suppers with some bread or a salad. Some families also enjoy eating soup for breakfast! It can be made more brothy in texture or it can be bulked up with rice or broken vermicelli. One Moroccan family may want to add more lentils, and another more tomato. Our version is on the lighter side, but we want to encourage you to experiment and put your signature style on this dish.
This Moroccan soup recipe is low in saturated fat and very low in sodium and cholesterol. It's also a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin K, Folate and Manganese and a good source of Vitamin C, Thiamin and Iron.
- 1 cup dried garbanzo beans
- 1 cup dried lima beans
- 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 sticks celery, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons Turmeric Powder
- 2 teaspoons Ginger Powder
- 2 teaspoons Domestic Paprika (85 ASTA)
- 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Caraway Seed
- 1/2 teaspoons Ground Cumin
- 2 quarts of water
- 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 pound plum tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup Dried Parsley
- 1/4 cup Dried Cilantro
- 1 cup lentils
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper Coarse Grind
- Rinse, sort and then soak garbanzo beans and lima beans in water overnight. Drain.
- In a large stock pot, sauté onion, celery and garlic in oil until onions are translucent.
- Add Turmeric Powder, Ginger Powder, American Sweet Paprika, Ground Nutmeg, Ground Caraway Seeds and Ground Cumin. Cook one minute until fragrant.
- Add water and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium low and add garbanzo beans and lima beans.
- Cover and cook about 1 to 1 1/2 hour or until beans are tender.
- Add tomato paste, tomatoes, Dried Parsley, Dried Cilantro, and lentils.
- Cover and cook until lentils are tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Bring soup back to a boil.
- If you want to make it thicker add cooked rice at this stage (I did not for this version).
- Season with lemon juice and pepper and serve.
