Ezo Gelin Soup! Gluten Free & Vegan

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!

Gather

• Splash of oil of choice (I used coconut)
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 whole garlic bulb peeled & chopped
• 400g red split lentils
• 200g quinoa rinsed and drained (I used red, white & black but just white is fine)
• 1 litre cold water
• 70g tomato puree
• 1.5 litres boiling water
• 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
• 1 tablespoon mint (plus extra for sprinkling)
• 1 tablespoon (or to taste) salt (I used Pink Himalayan)

Prepare

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion until translucent, add the garlic and cook for a further minute.
2. Stir in the lentils and quinoa and mix well.
3. Add the cold water, cover the pan and leave on a medium heat for 15 minutes.
4. Put the tomato puree into the boiling water and mix until you have a uniform liquid. Carefully pour this into the lentil mix.
5. Sprinkle over the pepper, mint and salt, cover and leave for ten minutes.
6. Check the soup, stir well, adjust seasoning if necessary. The lentils should have cooked down and the quinoa should have its tail (germ) showing.
7. 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.

A bowl of delicious Ezo Gelin Soup!

Served with thick dense homemade bread (gf of course)

Quinoa replaces the Bulghur in this traditional Turkish soup.

I’m sharing this with Deborah at the Plant Based Potluck Party 🙂

• Servings: 8-10
• Time: 30-40 mins
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Gather

• Splash of oil of choice (I used coconut)
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 whole garlic bulb peeled & chopped
• 400g red split lentils
• 200g quinoa rinsed and drained (I used red, white & black but just white is fine)
• 1 litre cold water
• 70g tomato puree
• 1.5 litres boiling water
• 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
• 1 tablespoon mint (plus extra for sprinkling)
• 1 tablespoon (or to taste) salt (I used Pink Himalayan)

Prepare

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion until translucent, add the garlic and cook for a further minute.
2. Stir in the lentils and quinoa and mix well.
3. Add the cold water, cover the pan and leave on a medium heat for 15 minutes.
4. Put the tomato puree into the boiling water and mix until you have a uniform liquid. Carefully pour this into the lentil mix.
5. Sprinkle over the pepper, mint and salt, cover and leave for ten minutes.
6. Check the soup, stir well, adjust seasoning if necessary. The lentils should have cooked down and the quinoa should have its tail (germ) showing.
7. 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.