A Midle Eastern lentil and pasta soup -- with amazing flavor and texture -- that serves as a respite in this hectic season

Between Thanksgiving with its overflowing table, the cookie shipments I start packing for friends in a few weeks and the endless punch bowls of New Year's Eve celebrations to come, these are the days of food and drink abundance. So why am I sharing a recipe based on an opposite tradition, one of fasting?

It's because in the midst of such indulgences, I always crave moments of respite, and I figured you might, too.

This Lebanese lentil and pasta soup comes from "Nistisima," Georgina Hayden's beautiful collection of vegan Mediterranean recipes. The title is the Greek word for Lenten, or fasting foods, dishes eaten by those that adhere to the Orthodox church's fasting rules. As Hayden writes, when she was growing up in Cyprus, "I never questioned why we have countless cake recipes that are oil-based and contain no eggs, or that we drank almond 'milk,' long before it became trendy in cafe culture, but now I understand that this came about from necessity."

Lent on the Christian calendar is months away, and it's traditionally about sacrifice. While I appreciate, as Hayden does, the ritual of reflection and of resetting ones dietary habits, whether it's religious or not, I don't need to wait to enjoy the kind of cooking that leaves me feeling refreshed and nourished rather than, well, overserved. The most obviously appealing things about this soup are its flavor and texture: the former from a classic Mediterranean blend of cumin, cilantro, garlic and lemon (what Hayden calls "the holy quarter of flavours in my world") and the latter a silkiness from the pasta's starch. That makes eating it feel anything but restrictive.

The recipe has another benefit: Just when you might be at your busiest, it provides a speedy way to get a dinner or lunch on the table - and then into the fridge as leftovers that you'll welcome being able to dip into on a particularly harried day.

LENTIL AND PASTA SOUP (RISHTA)

MAKES: 4 servings
ACTIVE TIME: Storage Notes: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months

• 8 cups Scrappy Vegetable Broth or store-bought low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 heaping cup (7 ounces) brown/green lentils, rinsed and picked over
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 medium-large onions (9 ounces each), thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 cups lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves and stems (1 large bunch), finely chopped and divided
• 4 ounces dried tagliatelle or fettuccine, broken into bite-size pieces
• 1 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, combine the rice and lentils in a small bowl and add water to cover. Soak for at least 1 hour and up to overnight, then drain.

Cut off the stem ends of the zucchini and summer squash and cut the stem end off the bell pepper; reserve these bits. Halve each vegetable lengthwise. Using a spoon or corer, remove the flesh in a channel from the zucchini and squash and chop the flesh. Discard the seeds from the bell pepper. Use a fork or skewer to poke holes all over the outside of the vegetables.

Set a shallow Dutch oven, or other oven-safe, lidded pan that can hold the vegetables in one layer, over medium heat. Pour in the olive oil, and when it shimmers, add the onion and cook, stirring, until it softens and lightly browns, about 5 minutes. Add the soaked rice and lentils, the chopped vegetable flesh, 1/2 cup of the water, the parsley, quinoa, 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, the spice mix and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the rice and lentils start to soften slightly, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat, let the mixture cool slightly, then fill the zucchini and squash halves with it, and place one half on top of the other to close them up. Fill the red bell pepper with the stuffing. Place the vegetables in the same pan and nestle the reserved cut stem ends against the squash and zucchini, and place the stem-end top back on the bell pepper, to prevent filling from spilling out too much during cooking.

In a large measuring cup or bowl, mix together the diced tomatoes with the remaining 1 cup of water, the tomato paste, the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the pepper. Pour it over the stuffed vegetables in the pan.

Set the pan over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook until the vegetables are tender and the rice and lentils are cooked, 30 to 45 minutes.

Garnish with the additional whole parsley leaves and serve hot.

Nutrition per serving (half a stuffed vegetable plus 1/4 cup sauce), based on 6 | Calories: 236; Total Fat: 6 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 548 mg; Carbohydrates: 38 g; Dietary Fiber: 8 g; Sugar: 8 g; Protein: 9 g

JewishWorldReview.com publishes delicious -- mostly nutritious -- recipes. Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

(COMMENT, BELOW)