Gorgeous, delicious red lentil and curry soup. This soup is a bit more than just a soup as it contains some carbs in the form of the sweet potato (so no extra bread allowed if you are trying to lose a few pounds). You may switch the sweet potato for extra butternut squash.

Each portion contains around 30g dried red lentils (equivalent to 60g cooked lentils). This means that with this recipe you would add around half of another protein portion to top it up. I like mixing cream cheese with grated radish and cress and putting it into salad boats! 

Ingredients, serves 4

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced (or extra butternut)

1 apple, peeled, cored and diced

200g butternut squash, peeled and diced

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon cinnamon

125g red lentils

850ml vegetable stock

1 tablespoon tomato purée

Method

1. Fry the onions and garlic gently in the olive oil for around five minutes until softened.
2. Add the other vegetables and stir for two minutes before adding in the spices.
3. Cook the spices through for a further two minutes.
4. Add the lentils, stock, tomato purée, salt and pepper as well as the chopped apple.
5. Simmer gently for 20 minutes until cooked through. Stir occasionally
6. If desired, part-blend the soup to make it smoother.