Spicy Chickpea & Red Lentil Soup

Packed with protein from the chickpeas and lentils, this is an easy soup to make (no blending). Small, brown chickpeas are great in this soup, although any kind will be good. Chickpeas give a satisfying bite so you don’t need bread with this. It’s also completely vegan. If you don’t have passata, simply whizz a tin of chopped tomatoes until smooth.

Makes 2 lunches

1 tbsp vegetable/olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 tsp chopped frozen garlic or 1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1 tsp chilli flakes or chilli powder
50g dried red lentils
200g passata
100g chickpeas – brown ones called kala chana ideally, drained
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion, garlic and red pepper and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
2. Add the chilli, lentils, passata and chickpeas and stir.
3. Pour in 200ml water and stir. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes until the lentils have softened.
4. Season with salt and pepper and more chilli if you like.
5. This soup freezes well if you only need one lunch today. It will also last 3 days in the fridge.

Packed with: Chickpeas are a very good source of folate, a B vitamin that keeps our brain and nervous system functioning well.