Brazilian Lentil Soup with Kale
This hearty Lentil Soup with Kale is a Brazilian staple on New Year's Day when eating lentils provides good luck for prosperity in the coming year.
In Brazil, New Year's Eve (Reveillón) is a big deal! And while they eat lentils in many ways all throughout the year, they are a particularly important part of the New Year's celebrations.
Lentils: A good luck food
Like many places around the world, beans are considered a good luck food to bring in the New Year. But, the tradition of eating lentils in particular was brought to Brazil from Italian immigrants, who also are known to particularly favor lentils as a New Year's food.
The round shape of the lentils is thought to resemble a coin, and the way the lentils swell up when they cook imitates the wish for wealth to expand in the coming year. In addition, the green of the lentils and kale symbolizes good health.
Brazilian Lentil Soup with Kale
This Brazilian Lentil Soup (Sopa de Lentihas) is a hearty and nutrient-rich soup, full of flavor from carrots, tomatoes, and celery and with a fun splash of color from chopped kale. After all the holiday indulgences is is a nice, healthier way to start off the New Year.
But, don't save it for New Year's. It really is a wonderful soup for any time you need a big bowl of comfort.
More lentil recipes from around the world
If you love lentils, you will love these other recipes using lentils from around the world.
- Armenian Mshosh (lentil salad)
- Egyptian Kushari (pasta dish)
- Greek Fakes Lentil Soup
- Indian Broccoli Dal (Broccoli with Lentils)
- Lightened up Indian Dal Makhani (Kidney Bean and Lentil Stew)
Brazilian Lentil Soup with Kale
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 5 c chicken stock or vegetable stock to make the dish vegetarian
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1 c lentils, brown or green, dry, rinsed
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ - 2 cup chopped kale, veins removed
- Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- In a 2 quart soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, add onions and sauté until soft, 2-3 min. Reduce the heat to medium and add the carrots, celery, and garlic. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, 4-5 minutes.
- Add the chicken stock, diced tomato, lentils, and bay leaf. Stir to mix. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until the lentils are tender, 25-35 min. Stir the soup occasionally. If the soup becomes too thick, add a little more water.
- Add the chopped kale. Continue to simmer until the kale has wilted, 1-2 min. Taste the soup and adjust the salt and pepper as necessary.
- Remove the bay leaf and serve.
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
This soup was another good addition to the string of successes I have had with my church's Pot Luck lunch. Beforehand, the vegetarian approach was slightly out of my comfort zone; now, you can it has nestled a nice little suburb within my rich repertoire of cuisines. That is especially true if we count desserts as among them.
With it still being relatively cold - although at the tail-end as of writing - soup season was still going strong, with a couple more ventures to bring to the table. There had been a few robust recipes recently, so this was a nice, simple change of pace - only a couple of cans of lentils (okay, plus the kale) made it a task.
Usually, the flavour profile of the recipes I bring is explosive and in-your-face. Again, a change of pace by allowing the simmering vegetables to create the taste and speak for themselves. This turned out well, because two women from the church asked me to link the recipe. One even said the kale was perfectly cooked (and this is likely my first time cooking with the vegetable).
There was something in the broth that had a similar aroma and mouthfeel to the classic chicken noodle soup. Saying that, it would have that healing and comforting nature to it. Each vegetable was getting tender, while still maintaining the crunch. Both the garlic and onion were there in the background, creating the familiar flavour base to so many dishes over the years.
It may not have been the first venture that I had with cooking Brazilian cuisine, and let's hope that it won't be the last either. This was highly approved.
So glad you enjoyed it!