This falls under the E category in the Trim Healthy Mama plan. You can learn all about the Trim healthy Mama lifestyle here.
This curry is an easy meatless dish or you can add some diced chicken breast for a little extra protein. Serve it over rice or with sourdough and a dollop of greek yogurt.
As soon as the air starts getting cool in the fall, my mind starts wandering in the direction of a bowl of something hot and steamy. I don’t like the cold weather as well as warmer seasons so I am always trying to drink and eat allll the warm and cozy foods. This soup is a variation on traditional curry and actually uses roasted root vegetables as the base along with broth. You can use any broth. I just use whatever I have on hand at the moment. Here in Ohio, we still have a few months of cooler weather left yet, and I wanted to share this recipe with you all before spring officially arrives!
The best part about this soup is it’s simplicity. Don’t worry if you’ve never made a curry. It is one of the easiest dishes to prepare and is very forgiving. I like to make my own curry seasoning with a mix of tumeric and cumin, but if you have curry powder on hand by all means, use that to make it even simpler. I left the spiciness of traditional curry out, since my family prefers less spice rather than more. Feel free to add a bit of cayenne if you’re feeling spicy.
Let’s get started!
(Scroll to the bottom of this post for a printable recipe.)
First, Preheat your oven to 400Β°.
Prepping the veggies
Wash and prepare the carrots, and celery and onion. Don’t bother peeling the carrots, just wash them first. I like to keep the carrots whole to save time and minimize on prep. If you are concerned they won’t be finished the same time as the celery and onions, you can cut them in half lengthwise.
Roast the veggies
Now put all the veggies on baking sheet with 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. Roast them in the oven for about 45 minutes or until all the veggies are soft. Roasting the veggies first brings out the sugars that are present in them and gives the soup a richer flavor, almost a bit sweet. This is definitely one of my favorite tips in taking your cooking to the next level. If a cooked vegetable dish tastes a bit bland, try roasting the vegetables instead.
Cooking the base
While the vegetables are roasting, get out a 4 quart kettle and put 2 & 1/2 quarts of broth along with the lentils, chickpeas and tomatoes in the kettle. Bring it to a boil and cook for 40 minutes or until the lentils are soft.
Now cut up the chicken breast into 1 inch square pieces. (Skip this step for a meatless version. ) Reserve half of the cooked lentil and chickpea mixture. Put the chicken with the remaining broth and cook through. This takes about 10 minutes. Allow the reserved broth to cool for those 10 minutes.
Put it all together!
Now take your roasted veggies out of the oven. If they are done, place half of them in a heavy duty blender, like the Vitamix. Add half of the reserved lentil and broth mixture and blend until smooth. Pour the blended mixture back into the kettle. Finish blending the rest of the roasted veggie mixture and broth mixture and add it to the kettle as well. Add all of the seasonings, stir a few times and heat everything until it is steamy. You can leave it sitting on the stove with the burner turned on low heat until you are ready to eat it. Allow it to cool 5 minutes before serving. We like to eat it with some crusty sourdough to sop up the curry. Leave me a comment and let me know how you served it!
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Carrot & Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
- 6 large carrots washed
- 1 medium onion peeled
- 1 stalk celery washed
- 2.5 quarts broth
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) undrained
- 1 cup lentils rinsed
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes undrained
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
Spices
- 2 tsp tumeric
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
- 2 tsp garlic, chopped
- 2 1/2 tsp sea salt himalayan
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Meat
- 1 medium chicken breast diced
Instructions
- Wash the carrots onion, and celery and throw them onto a baking sheet with the oil. Bake at 400Β° for 45 minutes until soft. Bring the broth, lentils, chickpeas, and tomatoes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes. Now remove half of this mixture and set it aside. Add the diced chicken breast to the kettle and cook it through.Take the roasted vegetables out of the oven. In a high powered blender, blend the reserved lentil broth with the roasted veggies until smooth. Pour the mixture back into the kettle. Add the spices and simmer everything together until heated through. Serve over brown rice or with your favorite crusty sourdough bread.
Notes
