Ash-e Reshteh, Persian Noodle Soup
Ash-e reshteh is the soup Iranians cook by the potful for Nowruz, the spring new year, where the tangle of noodles is said to stand for the many paths a life can take. It is really a way to eat a garden's worth of herbs: parsley, cilantro, and spinach go in by the cupful and cook down into a soup that is green through and through. Beans and lentils make it a meal, whole wheat noodles give it body, and the finish is what fixes it in the memory, dried mint toasted until fragrant and a swirl of something tangy where cooks would normally reach for kashk. Unsweetened plant yogurt and a squeeze of lemon do that job here, and the pot needs no salt to taste complete.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Kidney beans, cooked, or one 15 oz can, no-salt-added, drained
- 1 cup Chickpeas, cooked, or one 15 oz can, no-salt-added, drained
- 1/2 cup Brown lentils, rinsed
- 1 whole Yellow onions, finely diced
- 4 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 2 cups Flat-leaf parsley, chopped, packed
- 2 cups Cilantro, chopped, packed
- 4 cups Spinach, chopped, packed
- 4 wholes Scallions, sliced
- 4 oz Whole wheat short pasta, whole wheat vermicelli or thin noodles
- 1 tbsp Dried mint
- 1/2 cup Plain plant yogurt, unsweetened, to serve
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice, fresh
Method
- Sweat the onion in a large pot with a few tablespoons of water until soft and golden, about 10 minutes, then stir in the garlic and turmeric and cook for 1 minute. Cooking the turmeric briefly in the dry heat rounds off its raw, dusty edge before the liquid goes in.
- Add the lentils and 8 cups (1.9 liters) water and simmer for 20 minutes, until the lentils are nearly tender. Starting the lentils alone lets them soften before the greens go in and dull their bite.
- Add the kidney beans, chickpeas, parsley, cilantro, and scallions and simmer another 15 minutes. The soup should turn deep green and taste of the herbs, which are treated here as the main vegetable and not a garnish.
- Stir in the spinach and the noodles and cook until the pasta is tender, about 10 minutes, adding water if the soup thickens past a ladling consistency. Whole wheat noodles hold their chew where refined ones would dissolve into the pot.
- Toast the dried mint in a small dry pan for 30 seconds until it darkens and smells sharp, then stir most of it in. Blooming the mint dry is the classic Persian finish that gives the soup its cooling, savory top note in place of salt.
- Ladle into bowls, swirl in the plant yogurt and the lemon juice, and scatter the last of the toasted mint over the top. The tang of the yogurt and the acid stand in for the salted whey called kashk that the dish traditionally leans on.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 250 calories, 12 g protein, 11 g fiber, 60 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
