Instructions: Heat oil in large saucepan or soup pot over medium-high heat and fry onion, meat and paprika, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add cilantro, parsley, celery, tomatoes, potato, carrots and water. Bring to boil over high heat. Add saffron. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.

Simmer until meat is tender, 45 to 50 minutes.

Add zucchini, lentils and vermicelli. Continue cooking, covered, until lentils are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Discard cilantro and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into individual bowls and sprinkle with chopped parsley or cilantro. Serve immediately.

6 servings.

Cuisine: "North African"

Start to Finish Time:
"1:45"

NOTES : For a lighter soup, theres shorba, the Moroccan soupe du jour.

Its composition is bound only by the seasons and the cooks imagination. " When I make shorba, I am inspired by whatever odd assortment of orphan vegetables I find in the refrigerator crisper-an onion or two, a lonely carrot, a forgotten potato, a piece of winter squash or crisp fennel bulb, a turnip. They all find their way into my qedra of simmering broth, along with generous amounts of fresh cilantro and other seasonings. " - Kitty

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