Red lentil, chickpea & chilli soup

Today I have learned to never try to bargain with someone who doesn't yet understand the concept of bargaining.  You see I only work a half day on Friday and so Friday afternoon nap time has always been earmarked for a flurry of housework activities before the weekend.  There is zero chance of trying to do anything whilst Miss A is awake as even the eagle eyes in the back of my head are not good enough to keep her out of mischief if I should attempt to flick a duster at anything.

The list of tasks for this afternoon's nap time included - make lentil and chickpea soup, make granola, dust, tidy, put on the washing, change the beds, do the ironing and watch Stella (the Sky 1 program, not a can of beer).  Miss A had other ideas.  Even a walk before nap time hadn't tired her out.

So I stupidly said 'If you go and do some reading quietly, you can have a piece of cake for your snack in half an hour.'  Cue tantrum because she wanted cake there and then.  It wasn't just any cake, but the banana and lime streusel cake she helped me make yesterday for the husband's birthday.  She hadn't yet had a piece and had been apparently eyeing up the cake tin all morning wondering when she might get some.

Of course, to a 21 month old, an offer of cake means NOW.  Not in five minutes.  Or even two.  It means mummy is going to whip out a plate from behind her back with the cake cut into small squares for immediate consumption.  Mummy didn't deliver.  Cue tantrum.

And on it went.  I left the room and ten minutes later, silence.  Or at least I thought it was silence.  Dusters got flicked, soup and granola hastily made, soup got eaten, beds made, ironing done.  Husband appears.  "She's been awake the entire time" he informs me.  I venture into the nursery.  She's managed to shake half a litre of water out of her non-drip, non-spill cup all over her bed, her floor and herself.  She looks up hopefully and says 'Cake!'  Not a question, a demand.

There are chickpeas in there, somewhere.

I'll blog about the cake over the weekend.  It's the most lovely, softest banana cake I've ever had the pleasure to eat.  Once the child had eaten a slice, she announced 'More cake.'  And every time I asked any food-related questions for the rest of the day, or any question come to that, the request was for more cake.

Even the offer of some soup was turned down with a request for cake.  It must be that good!

As for the soup.  Well I bought lentils yonks ago when I was trying to encourage Miss A's palate.  I made a lentil ragu from Good Food Mag and I hated it.  There was something just so wrong with the texture of it in my personal opinion.  The lentils had been hanging round in the cupboard ever since goading me into doing something with them.  And so I did.

I wasn't expecting much from the soup but it was really tasty and as a bonus for someone still on the healthy eating thing (I lapsed yesterday with the husband's birthday takeaway), it was really filling and it's really low in fat.  I thought this would be a one-off make whilst it was cooking, but I'm surprised to say I will make it again.  And actually go and buy more lentils one day!

It's another Good Food recipe which you can find here.