About a week ago, I had the opportunity to meet one of the more “famous” bloggers from San Francisco. I went to an art opening that her husband hosted. She was very sweet in person, so I followed up on our conversation with an email telling her how happy I was to meet her and telling her about my blog and how excited I am to be in San Francisco to be a part of the blogging “scene” here. I also reiterated how impressed I was with her husbands paintings. It was definitely a let down when she responded to my heartfelt email with “Thanks for coming!” and nothing more. She didn’t even sign the email!
I make it a priority to respond to all of the emails that I get here at A Side of Sweet. I really, really love hearing from all of you whether it is a question from a pre-medical student or positive feedback from someone who tried one of my recipes or even someone nicely telling me to do my research before calling someone a creeper. The fact that any of those people took time out of their busy days to give a little shout out to this lil’ blog of mine makes me warm and fuzzy inside! No matter how busy life gets, 80 hour work weeks be darned, you will always hear back from me. That’s a promise.
This mulligatawny soup recipe made me almost as warm and toasty inside as getting a nice comment or email from you, dear reader! It’s an Indian soup that is traditionally more watery and with a strong peppery flavor. I love this spin on it done by Jenny of Spoon Fork Bacon. It’s chock full of veggies and spices pureed in the blender to give a beautiful creamy texture. Pat and I splurged on a Vitamix and I’ve been having a blast testing it out! Everything from smoothies to ice cream to soup – and that’s just day one!
Mulligatawny Soup
- Yield: 4
- Category: Main Dish
Ingredients
- For the soup:
- 1/4 c. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 red jalapeno, seeded and diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp ginger, peeled and minced
- 2 small apples, peeled, cored and diced
- 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp cardamom
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1 T minced thyme
- 1/2 c. red or yellow lentils (uncooked)
- 3 c. chicken or veggie stock
- 2/3 c. coconut milk
- salt to and pepper to taste
[i]For the toppings and garnish:[/i]
- Cooked jasmine rice
- Roasted and shredded chicken breast
- Golden raisins
- Fresh thyme
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion, celery, carrot, and jalapeno for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, apples, and tomato and sauté for an additional 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add all of the spices, thyme and lentils to the pot and sauté for 3 minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes or until lentils have cooked through.
- Puree mixture in a blender until smooth.
- Pour mixture back into the pot and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in coconut milk and adjust seasonings according to taste.
- Serving suggestion: Place about 1/2 cup of rice at the bottom of each bowl and top with a ladle of soup. Top soup with shredded chicken, a sprinkle of raisins and a few sprigs of thyme. Season with freshly ground black pepper.
Notes
Adapted from Spoon Fork Bacon
I love Indian food, so I will definitely have to try this soup. I’m really at the beginning of my healthy eating journey, and I love blogs like yours where I can find tasty but also healthy recipes to try out. I still think about what you said a month or so back – I might have to get used to the taste of veggies, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible! Thanks for posting 🙂
Hey Amy! This is a great recipe to ease into veggies, especially if you like Indian spices! Since everything is pureed, it does a nice job of hiding what you’re actually eating! Thanks for reading.
LOVE your dedication to your readers! I just stumbled across your blog recently, mostly because of it’s title and I am a novice to the world of running (and quickly becoming hooked)and it quickly made its way onto my daily reading list!
Anyways, what I mainly want to say is that I’ve been writing my blog for almost 2 years now, and am JUST now making a priority of replying to people that comment and realizing the importance of developing those relationships/ connecting with readers. So I’ve found this post very inspiring!
Hey Ashley! Thanks for the nice comment. You’re making me blush! I had a chance to check out your blog. You and your husband are too cute! I’m definitely going to add it to my reader!
Love this soup, and I know how warm and comforting this can be.
I’m sorry to hear about what happened. The point of our blogs is to communicate and connect but I guess it’s different for some.
There are so many wonderful bloggers, so as a new blogger myself I am looking forward to meeting some fun people.
Hey Ash! Thanks for the shout out. I checked out your blog – it’s good to hear from another SF blogger. Thanks so much for the love.
Hey Kelly, I’m not a runner or even a blogger, but I did a search for healthy muligatawny soup and found your recipe. I recently returned from a medical mission trip to India and really enjoyed the food (and the people too, of course). Unfortunately, much of the food wasn’t very healthy. For example, I loved the deep fried samosas, but they have to be eaten in extreme moderation. In any event, thanks for posting the recipe. Sounds like just what the doctor ordered! 🙂
Hey Keith! Thanks so much for visiting and for commenting! I was really struck by how unhealthy Indian food was. Especially when I was a guest in people’s homes and watched them add the oil! It was so tasty though I couldn’t help but eat like crazy. This recipe is much healthier.