Vegetable And Lentil Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
2/3 lb onions, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, quartered
2 stalks trimmed celery, chopped coarsely
1/2 lb carrots, peeled and chopped coarsely
1 lb parsnips, peeled and chopped coarsely
1 lb sweet potato, peeled and chopped coarsely
1 tbsp curry paste
2 cups reduced-salt vegetable stock
14 oz red lentils
1 2/3 cup boiling water
2 slices bread, to serve
None None Coriander yogurt
3/4 cup low-fat yogurt
1 tsp coarsely chopped fresh coriander

Preparation

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook the onions, garlic, celery, carrots, parsnips and sweet potato for about 10 mins or until the vegetables start to soften. Add the curry paste and cook until fragrant.
Add the stock, 4 1/4 cups of water and lentils and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 25 mins or until the vegetables and lentils are soft.
To make the coriander yogurt, blend half the yogurt with the coriander until smooth, then stir in the remaining yogurt. Refrigerate until required.
Blend or process the soup in batches until smooth. Return the soup to a clean pan and stir in enough boiling water to dilute it to the desired consistency and bring to a boil.
Ladle the soup into the serving bowls and top with coriander yogurt and a little freshly ground black pepper, if desired. Serve with toasted bread.