LENTIL AND BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP
This is the first time I have cooked garlic/onions and had them turn the most gorgeous bluish-green color. Check out my pictures! It is perfectly harmless when this color develops but so fascinating. This soup is absolutely delicious and my husband described it as "very good." I used canned beans instead of dried to make it even easier.
The recipe is adapted from “SOS Cuisine”: Lentil and Black Eyed Pea Soup
Why did my garlic/onion paste turn bluish-green? The Food Lab of "Serious Eats" explains the science: Ask the Food Lab: Why Does My Garlic Turn Green?
You can watch Dr. Greger's 5 minute video to understand why you want to wait 10 minutes before cooking the garlic/onion paste for this recipe to optimize the health benefits: Inhibiting Platelet Activation with Garlic & Onions
The recipe site has the option of choosing how many servings you want and it recalculates the ingredient amounts. I made 10 servings.
What I did differently and clarifications:
-Did not use dried beans
-Used 2 (15.5 oz) cans of black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
-Used 2 (15 oz) cans of no salt added brown lentils, drained and rinsed
-Did not use oil
-My 6 cloves of garlic weighed 30 grams and were organic
-Instead of 2 1/2 tsp fresh ginger root I used 1/4 tsp ground dried ginger
-Reduced cayenne pepper to 1/4 tsp
-Used frozen tomatoes from my garden instead of 8 fresh Roma tomatoes
-Did not add extra salt
-For the vegetable broth, I used 3 cups prepared Orrington Farms Vegan Chicken flavored broth. Since my beans were already cooked, I did not need as much broth as instructed but if you use dried beans use the full amount of broth per recipe
-Did not add green beans
-Used 2 1/4 packed cups baby spinach
-Chopped the onion and garlic in the food processor to make the paste (it did not turn colors until I started cooking it)
-Cooked the soup in a Dutch oven pot
-Dry sautéed the onion/garlic paste until just started to stick. (you can add a splash of water if needed to unstick them)
-Added the canned beans and broth after the spices and tomatoes.
-Topped servings with fresh cilantro
