Tunisian Red Lentil Soup with Raw Beetroot Salad

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Skill Level	Easy

Preparation Time	15 minutes	Total Time	50 minutes
Servings	8	Cost Per Serving	$0.45

Tunisian Red Lentil Soup

1 cup	Red Lentils,rinsed
1	Medium Onion,medium dice
2	Medium Carrots,medium dice
3 cloves	Garlic,whole,crushed
4 cups (1 L)	Vegetable or Chicken Stock
1/2	Lemon,juiced
1 tbsp	Harissa Paste (or Tomato Paste if you don't like it spicy)
1/2 tsp each	Ground Cinnamon,Cumin,Turmeric and Coriander
2 tbsp	Plain Yogurt
2 tbsp	Light Olive Oil
To Taste	Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Raw Beetroot Salad

2	Medium Red Beets,thinly sliced and then cut into matchsticks
2 tbsp	Fresh Mint or Cilantro,roughly chopped
2 tbsp	Golden Raisins
1 tbsp	Lemon Juice
1 tsp	Extra Virgin Olive Oil
To Taste	Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Combine all ingredients for the beetroot salad and set aside in the refrigerator.
Add the olive oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add your onions, carrots and garlic and stir well. Add your ground cinnamon, cumin, turmeric and coriander, stir well and gently cook for about 6 minutes.
Add the harissa or tomato paste and lentils and stir well. Cover with the stock, turn up the heat and bring to a boil.
Once the soup starts to boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 35 minutes, or until the lentils are very tender and break apart easily.
Add the yogurt and lemon juice. Blend until smooth using an immersion blender or carefully transfer to a stand blender. Season to taste.
Serve and top each bowl with a little of the beetroot salad.

PDF link to nutrition facts table for red lentil soup with raw beetroot salad

Bile is a fluid that is needed to digest fat. It is released by the liver and stored by the gallbladder. Gallstones are small rock-like substances that form in the gallbladder when cholesterol and other elements in bile form crystals. Most gallstones do not cause problems, but some can block the bile duct, a tube that connects the gallbladder to the liver and small intestine. This can cause problems such as nausea and vomiting. Gallstones are also a risk factor for gallbladder cancer.
Vegetarians are less likely to get gallstones than non-vegetarians. This may be because vegetarian diets are high in fibre, cholesterol-free and low in saturated fat.
Diets high in fibre help prevent gallstones from forming, and may keep gallstones that are already present from getting larger and causing problems. Fibre binds to cholesterol in food and in bile and speeds up the movement of food through your digestive system, so the cholesterol does not have a chance to form gallstones. Choose fibre-rich foods such as vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans and legumes.
Saturated fat and cholesterol make gallstones more likely to form. Saturated fat and cholesterol are found in foods that come from animals such as red meat, dark poultry meat and poultry skin, egg yolks and high-fat dairy products. To reduce the saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet, choose vegetarian meals more often, chicken or turkey breast without the skin, and low-fat milk or milk alternatives.