2-for-1 lentil soup becomes kale lentil flatbread

      

You already knew that kale and lentils are a power couple right! But did you know? lentils or legume soup is treated as a two-for-one deal? In New Delhi, day-old lentil soup gets a fresh makeover. Shh!! Ancient indian secret 🙂 We convert it to a flatbread simply by adding a few spices to awaken the soup. Voila, a brand new dish with the least amount of fuss.

All this started as I was getting ready to help a friend who has a grand vision for healing in the town of Brampton. She asked if I would teach some chair yoga to a group of seniors. Would I ever? And to each of us healers from various traditions-reiki healers, rolfing, energy healers, quantum healers who had gathered to help make her vision come true, she asked if we would like to bring some food.

Of course I offered kale lentil flatbreads. Nothing like low glycemic index lentils to give the class a slow burning food just right for a yoga practice. I made the kale lentil soup last night since the flavours are best if they can sit overnight. This morning at 8 AM I kneaded the dough. As I surveyed my kitchen and the work involved to hand make flatbreads for 20 plus the healers.. I had to do a reality check. Wasn’t going to happen. Time management kicked in. I decided instead to focus on the chair yoga presentation.. and bought some samosas, freshly prepared in my local east indian store.. where fresh batches keep coming out of their kitchen all day long. If you like samosas that are light but not too heavily spiced, then try Asian foods on ceremonial & mclaughlin, great groceries, smiling and helpful Punjabi staff.

Dinner was this powerhouse couple of kale lentil flatbreads. Loved it, can’t wait to share these delicious flatbreads with Apsara café orders tomorrow.  And Oh. if you are too tired to cook, you can always request an order with me. I cater as well and will share a beautiful secret with you about my catering next time..

makes 8 flatbreads ½ cup pigeon peas ½ cup split yellow chickpeas 2 cups whole wheat flour 1 cup red onions, sliced ½ cup tomatoes, cubed 1 tbsp fresh garlic, chopped 1 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped 1 cup kale, chopped

Spice Mix ½ tsp turmeric ½ tsp cumin seeds ¼ tsp cayenne pepper 2 thai green chillies,(optional for more heat) Pinch hing Salt to taste 2 tbsp coconut oil

Method

Kale Lentil soup
• Wash lentils(note: lentils & legumes are used interchangeably here. watch for a future post on the similarity & difference) thoroughly several times in water. Soak in 2 cups water, add turmeric and cook till soft. I cooked them in my trusty pressure cooker. Mash them with the back of a wooden spoon. Set aside.

• In pan, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add cumin and hing. Then quickly add 1/2 cup onions, ginger and garlic. Saute till soft. Add cayenne and toss in tomatoes. When everything is cooked, take off stove. Let cool and then puree in food processor.

• Return pureed tomato onion ginger garlic puree to hot pan. Add cooked lentils, kale and salt to taste. Let it come to a boil. This is imp to remove any traces of raw flavours. Set aside to cool. I set aside overnight in the fridge. It does get thicker in the fridge. You might be tempted to dig into the soup at this stage so make an extra batch – one for soup one night, the other for the flatbreads the next night.

Kale lentil flatbreads

• Mix soup with 2 cups flour and remaining chopped onions and knead lightly. Sprinkle some water as you go if needed. Dough has to be pizza consistency. Add the optional thai green chillies, if you like more spice and salt as needed.

• Make balls of the spiced flour. Roll out to desired size and thickness. Don’t worry if they are not perfect rounds. That’s part of the charm. Cook on hot griddle, smearing with some coconut oil. I’m in love with my new cast iron grill press. Don’t my flatbreads look pretty with grill lines running across. Bonus – I didn’t have to press down with a spoon to cook all sides of the flatbread.. the weight of the grill press did it.. I love love my job, I found this press in Kingston where I traveled on work last week.. and found this in a general housewares store..Highly recommend this cook’s favourite new device.

• Voila – healthy flatbreads with the wholesome goodness of kale and lentils with nourishing warming spices for winter. What more can you ask for.

• Here’s the class as we wrapped up. I led them through a final relaxation . and it was hard to get them to come out of their meditative phase..don’t they look completely chilled out..

So how did you find this healthy post? What else would you like to learn to make? Let me know. I love feedback. Recently I had someone ask if I would teach Healthy cooking 101 as their son is off red meat and they want nourishing and tasty options. Watch out for details on that.. as this has been an ongoing request from many of you.. I’ll also open this up as an online class for my many friends south of the border who made this request a while ago. Write to me in either the comments section or to apsaraaliveyoga@gmail.com if you’d like to be part of this cooking class.

–charuyoga–

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