Brothy Lentil Kale Soup (Vegan, GF, Yeast-Free, Low-Fat)

Kelly
Jan 26
4 min read

Soup du Jour! Another Dimpled Date side dish just dropped and this time it's a delicious, hearty yet light soup. Introducing: my vegan/GF lentil kale soup, that is simply simple, tasty, and healthy. Veggies meet lentils, spices, and broth in this wholesome, warming soup, full of protein, fiber, iron, and nutrients. Pair it with your (optional) grain of choice, such as quinoa, brown rice, or buckwheat. You can also serve it with an additional vegetable, such as kale chips, brussel sprouts, or a salad. And if you're really looking to pack a protein punch, serve this soup with additional crispy + seasoned lentils (or crispy turmeric roasted chickpeas). Bon appétite!

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My newest soup recipe has arrived! For those of you who have known the Dimpled Date for a few years, you probably remember my Butternut Squash Soup and Tomato Bisque (amongst others).

But this soup is a little different. Even for a lentil soup it's a little different. Specifically, because it's so brothy. Plus, it is incredibly simple, low-fat, ANNNND it has a wonderful spice blend.

Vegan, gluten-free, yeast-free, as always, and this one has a simple list of ingredients that you most likely have on hand 24/7 (this is a low-budget soup). As if that weren't enough, this soup is also low-fat, the only significant source of fat coming from the 1 Tbsp avocado oil used to cook the vegetables... which is to say, not a lot.

One bowl of this side dish boasts great, low-calorie, grain-free nutrition and a delightfully savory/umami taste. It's the perfect warming soup for the winter and fall with winter staples like kale and lentils.

I like to think of this soup as a hybrid cross between "chickpea noodle soup" and lentil soup. It's good for picky eaters with its mild taste and palatable texture.

Ok, and super quick market update: next Sunday I'm going to be at the Vegan in NJ Monthly Market in Neptune, NJ!! Stop by for cakes, ice cream pints, Valentine's truffles, cookies, "pop-tarts," and more.

You can pre-order your favorites for the market on my SHOP page of The Dimpled Date (on the main menu, under "MORE"). Or if you want to place a personal cake/dessert order for local delivery, fill out an order form or contact/email me (plenty of options to do this on the site, just explore my pages)!

On that note, more dessert and classic DD recipes are coming to the website soon. And keep posted for the next DD Newsletter, coming soon.

Substitutions

Lentils

any color/variety of lentils will work, but cooked chickpeas could work here too, I think. You can use either canned (prepared) or freshly cooked from dry legumes

Vegetable broth

store-bought or homemade vegetable stock works just fine here, but if you want, you can try a single-veggie broth, such as carrot top broth, onion broth, or celery broth. For a more sustainable (and flavorful) broth, try vegetable scraps broth made from the usually-discarded parts of vegetables (e.g. stems, leaves, etc.). Alternatively, a vegan (non-fish-based) dashi could work well for this soup too. You can cut the vegetable broth with a little filtered water, but this will make it less flavorful

Carrots

try any other vegetable instead, such as turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, additional celery, or onion. Baby carrots work too, but you'll have to add more

Celery

again, any other vegetable works. Some suggestions: leeks, scallions, turnips, chard, collard greens, fennel, celeriac, or additional carrots

Garlic

fresh cloves or jarred minced garlic works, but you can use garlic powder instead. For garlic-free soup, try onion, scallions (green onions), chives, onion grass/field grass bulbs, or garlic mustard greens instead

Kale

curly, Lacinato (dinosaur), any kind of kale works. Instead of kale, try chard, collard greens, cabbage, spinach, radish greens, carrot tops, or even beet greens would be nice

Sea salt

any kind of sea salt works, such as Himalayan pink, Hawaiian black, smoked, Celtic, or really any variety. Instead, try iodized salt. If you have a low-sodium diet, you may omit or reduce the salt, knowing that the broth will be less flavorful and you may need to add additional amounts of other spices to compensate for the lower sodium.

Black pepper

try pink pepper, green pepper, or white pepper instead. Or even, substitute red pepper flakes or a pinch of cayenne. If you must, you can omit the pepper

Italian seasoning

replace it with fresh or dried basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley, and/or thyme instead

Turmeric

you can try juiced fresh turmeric root instead of ground turmeric, noting that this will be more pungent and flavorful. Instead of turmeric, try additional ginger or you can try smoked paprika, additional cumin, coriander, etc. If you must, you can omit the turmeric

Ginger

substitute a few drops of freshly juiced ginger root or use additional turmeric + black pepper instead. Or you can simply omit the ginger if you wish

Cumin

you can try whole cumin seeds instead of ground, but this will leave some full pieces of cumin seeds in your soup. Instead, try chili powder, ancho powder, cayenne, red pepper flakes, or curry powder

Avocado oil

olive oil, sesame oil, and macadamia oil are all nice substitutes here. If you use other kinds of oil, grapeseed and vegetable oil technically work too

Lemon juice

it's perfectly optional, but try a squeeze of lime instead