Mediterranean Five-Lentil and Chard Soup with Walnut Gremolata
Adapted from The Artful Vegan
Serves 6

With all apologies to The Millennium Restaurant (whose cookbook this is), I made some changes to the method here. They suggest you cook each type of lentil separately for which I see no reason, other than to make you crazy and do a lot of dishes. You can use fewer types, even just plain old ordinary lentils too. Don’t let the long list of ingredients scare you off, it is an easy soup to make with little hands on time. The gremolata isn’t totally necessary but gives the soup a nice crunch.

Gremolata

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and very finely chopped
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp. minced parsley
2 tbsp. minced dill
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Serve, or store refrigerated, covered, overnight.

Five-Lentil Soup

2 tsp. olive oil
1 red onion, cut into small dice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. peeled and minced fresh ginger
2 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tsp. caraway seeds, toasted and ground
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. allspice
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup dry sherry
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 15 oz. can chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup dried red lentils
1/4 cup dried brown lentils
1/4 cup dried green (Le Puy) lentils
1/4 cup dried black beluga lentils
1/4 cup dried yellow split peas
6 cups vegetable stock
2 cups chopped red chard
2 tbsp. light miso
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook soft. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add all the spices and saute, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the sherry, sugar, all lentils and the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Add the chard and simmer for 10 minutes, or until wilted. Place the miso in a small bowl and whisk in 1/2 – 1 cup of stock until the miso has dissolved, then add the mixture back to the soup. (This will keep the miso from clumping.) Remove the bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a garnish of 1 tbsp. of the gremolata.