Ezo Gelin Soup! Gluten Free & Vegan
What is Ezo Gelin I hear you ask? It’s a Turkish lentil based soup named after a bride called Ezo! The story says that Ezo’s mother-in-law did not like her, so to try to win her over, Ezo made this soup! The soup is now famous all over Turkey and is eaten at anytime – including breakfast! This is #NationalBreakfastWeek (24-30 Jan) so why not try something different! 😛 Of course, this is Life Diet Health so we have changed the recipe to make it gluten free- traditionally it contains Bulghur wheat, but the protein & mineral packed quinoa makes an ideal substitute! It’s a very filling soup, hearty, warming and with a hint of mint! I served this for our ladies that lunch the other day and one of my friends has already recreated this for her family! 🙂 Let’s get cooking!
I’m sharing this with Deborah at the Plant Based Potluck Party 🙂
Turkish lentil soup.
- Splash of oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 400 g split red lentils
- 200 g quinoa rinsed and drained ( I used tri-colour but any is fine)
- 1 litre cold water
- 70 g tomato puree
- 1.5 litres boiling water
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1 tablespoon mint (plus extra for decoration)
- 1 tablespoon (or to taste) salt (I used pink Himalayan)
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Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion until translucent, add the garlic and cook for a further minute.
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Stir in the lentils and quinoa and mix well.
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Add the cold water, cover the pan and leave on a medium heat for 15 minutes.
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Put the tomato puree into the boiling water and mix until you have a uniform liquid. Carefully pour this into the lentil mix.
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Sprinkle over the pepper, mint and salt, cover and leave for ten minutes.
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Check the soup, stir well, adjust seasoning if necessary. The lentils should have cooked down and the quinoa should have its tail (germ) showing.
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Enjoy!
Serve & Store
- We were having a girly lunch (others were non vegan/non free-from) so this was served with garlic bread and chunky pizza wedges.
- I made a basic shepherds salad (also a Turkish recipe) and we piled it on top of the soup!
- Chili flakes are great sprinkled on top, as is black pepper or extra mint.
- Scoop it up with your favourite bread 🙂
- Store covered in the fridge for up to five days or freeze for up to two months.