Souped Up

My son loves cars. His favourite programs on TV are Top Gear Extra and Pimp my Ride. He loves to talk about fuel injectors, super-charges, hydrolics and a range of other car parts which I can't even pronounce, never mind spell. To him the expression "Souped Up" means dropped suspension, spinners and a set of pink dice dangling from rear- view mirror! (Please forgive his taste, he is only 14!).

As for me, I love my 1.3l Toyota Yaris and when I talk about optional extras, I think central locking and electric windows. The only "hot" thing on my car is my personalized number plate.

But I can "pimp" a meal and this "souped- up" soup was a real winner. It does not require hours of cooking. It's fresh and tasty and will satisfy any home-boy! Sorry about the photo but after trying 16 different angles, my food was getting cold and I was very hungry.

Greek Lentil Soup (Original idea from the Shape Magazine)

300g Brown Lentils
1 Onion thinly sliced
1 Celery Stalk thinly sliced ( or a handful soup celery leaves chopped)
1 can Chopped peeled Tomatoes
10ml Sugar (Optional)
1 Bay Leaf
2 Garlic Cloves chopped
30ml Fresh Origanum finely chopped
15ml Freshly squeezed lemon juice
1.5l Chicken or Vegetable stock ( I used a stock cube mixed with hot water)
Black Pepper to taste

Fry the onion until caramelized.
Add the rest of the ingredients and boil for about 30 -40 mins until the lentils are soft.

If you really want to soup this meal up make the following :

Soup 'Gremolata'
2 Garlic cloves finely chopped
30ml Fresh Origanum finely chopped (Not traditional but very complimentary)
30ml Fresh Parsley finely chopped
10ml Finely grated Lemon Zest
10 ml Lemon Juice
10 ml Good Olive Oil

Mix together and leave to rest while the soup is cooking.

When soup is ready place the soup in a bowl and add a teaspoon of the gremolata (gremolada).