I’m currently experiencing a lot of jaw pain which has me on a mostly soft food diet so I thought I’d share a rough recipe for my thai inspired soup.
In addition to very soft bread rolls and soup, I am also eating a lot of yoghurt and drinking a lot of hot chocolate… I’m not a fan of soft food so to make a change from shop bought soup, I got my carer to help me make this much thicker, but still soft, soup. The lentils mean that as it cools it thickens a lot so if you prefer a thinner soup, maybe reduce the amount of lentils or increase the amount of liquid.
Thai inspired lentil and potato soup
Potatoes – I used two large ones (roughly 500g together) and made a lot of soup. Cube and peel if you can be bothered, I didn’t…
Red lentils – I used about 120g
Ginger, garlic, lemongrass, chilli – all mine are pastes from the supermarket to reduce cutting and slicing
400ml coconut milk, a splash of fish sauce, lime juice
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Add the ginger, garlic, lemongrass and chilli pastes to a large saucepan and turn on the heat. Cook gently for a minute or two, until it starts to smell good. Then stir in the potatoes, try and coat them with the paste. The stir in the lentils. Add enough water to cover and leave to simmer for a while. You may need to top up the water because the lentils will suck it up. Cook until the potatoes are ready, about 20 minutes.
Leave to cool. This is a good chance to rest your hands.
Once cooled a bit, blend. Because I had made so much soup, we did this in stages.
Return to pan and stir in coconut milk slowly (you may not need the whole can, it depends on how thick you like your soup). Once combined, add a splash of fish sauce and lime juice to taste.
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This made 6 portions I think although depending how thick or thin you like your soup this will vary. Freezes ok.
Variations could include adding peppers and using sweet potatoes instead of or as well as potatoes. I use the lentil and potatoes as a base for most of my soups, using different flavouring to add variety.
Chronic pain cookbook 