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Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 (221g) Recipe makes 6 servings The following items or measurements are not included below: bird chiles vegetable stock 2 cups fresh swiss chard
Calories 426
Calories from Fat 147		(34%)
Amount Per Serving		%DV
	Total Fat 16.4g	25%
	Saturated Fat 2.3g	11%
	Monounsaturated Fat 5.3g
	Polyunsaturated Fat 7.7g
	Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg		0%
Sodium 1201mg		50%
Potassium 821mg		23%
Total Carbohydrate 58.3g		19%
	Dietary Fiber 17.0g	68%
	Sugars 6.3g
Protein 16.3g		32%
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Mesopotamian Barley, Lentil and Tahini Soup (Vegan)

Recipe #343599 | 2½ hours | 20 min prep | add private note

⁽³⁾ RATE IT NOW Print Recipe

By: VegSocialWorker
Dec 14, 2008

From Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey by Najmieh Batmanglij. This is untrried by me so far, but I plan on making it this winter sometime. I'm wating to see if I get a handheld blender for Christmas.

SERVES 6 (change servings and units)

Ingredients

Soup

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 leeks, finely chopped (use both white and green parts)
1 bird chile, chopped or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 garlic cloves, cushed and peeled
1/2 cup dried garbanzo beans
12 cups vegetable stock or water
1 cup barley
1/2 cup dry green lentils, picked over
3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 cups fresh swiss chard, chopped
1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup tahini
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Garnish

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

1
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, leeks, chili and garlic and stri fry for 10 minutes.
2
Add the chickpeas and vegetable stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, partially cover and simmer for 40 minutes.
3
Add the barley, lentils, salt and pepper and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, partially cover and cook for 30 minutes until barley and lentils are tender, stirring occasionally.
4
Add the tomatoes and herbs, cover and simmer over low heat for 40 more minutes longer.
5
Add the tahini and lime juice.
6
Using a hand held mixer, plunge it into the pot and puree some of the ingredients.
7
If the soup is too thick, add some warm water and bring back to a boil. Adjust seasonings to taste, adding salt, pepper or lime juice as needed.
8
Just before serving, pour the sooup into a tureen or individual serving bowls. Garnish with black pepper and parsley or a sprig of your favorite herb.

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Featured Reviews for This Recipe

From: Chef Edlear

On Jan 29, 2009

Lovely flavors. I multiplied this recipe by 4, and it made a very large stock pot full. I used a habanero I had and canned ceci beans instead of dried. I used some nice small french lentils and pearled barley. I used the rest of the ingredients as listed. This soup is surprisingly nice looking. I though that it might end up muddy looking, but it didn't. The fresh lime juice is a nice note, and the tahini was subtle. I didn't bother with the pureeing step, the soup had good body without. I did add in some baby spinach at the end, along with the chard which kept its' color. Thank you for posting this recipe, Ajo.

2 people found this review helpful

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From: windhorse23

On Dec 20, 2008

First of all, there is no way this makes six servings. It's at least double that--this is a huge amount of soup. And that was after I scaled the recipe down by about 25%. I made a few other small changes. I used a minced jalepeno along with a little cayenne pepper. I used a can of garbanzos as I didn't realize the recipe called for dried beans. I didn't peel the tomatoes. I used dried dill. Also, there is nowhere in the instructions about when to add the chard (and I used kale because I couldn't find chard). So I added the kale right before I used the stick blender. The bottom line is that this is an excellent recipe, a very tasty and hearty soup that I will be enjoying for a long time. Thank you.

3 people found this review helpful

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From: Chef #1153565

On Feb 1, 2009

Fantastic flavours! I halved this as I only cook for 2 and have plenty leftover for lunches. I also used kale instead of chard and had a few mushrooms I needed to use so threw them in. I thought it was fine without using the blender so didn't bother. I will be making this regularly!