Padma Lakshmi Shares This Veggie-Packed Afghan Soup from Taste the Nation and We Can't Wait to Try It

As we try to stay cool in the hottest part of the summer, the foods that come to mind are usually cold and refreshing, like a bowl of Watermelon Gazpacho or a Simple Bibim Naengmyeon. But former Top Chef judge Padma Lakshmi has something different in mind.

Lakshmi recently took to her Instagram with a recipe from season two, episode two of her show, Taste the Nation, to give us a look at a hearty and warming noodle soup she learned to make when visiting Washington D.C.'s Afghan community. The dish is called aush (also spelled aash, ash or āsh), and it seems like the perfect recipe for a filling family dinner.

She assures viewers that as long as you take your time, making this dish can be an easy and delicious weekend endeavor. Read on for how Lakshmi makes aush.

How to Make Aush

Step 1: Yogurt Sauce

The dish starts with an easy sauce made by mixing yogurt, minced garlic, lemon zest and dried mint. Even though this sauce is used last to top the soup, she suggests preparing this component first so that all the different flavors have time to meld together.

Step 2: Meat Sauce

Lakshmi then goes on to make the meat sauce. First, she drizzles olive oil in a large pot to about medium-heat.

To the olive oil, add diced onion, finely diced garlic and ginger and a dollop of tomato paste. Next, add in and combine your choice of ground meats. Lakshmi uses traditional ground beef and lamb, but mentions, "If you want to make this untraditional, you can definitely use ground chicken and ground turkey." After browning the meat, add some more of the world's healthiest spices: turmeric, chile powder, sumac and cumin. Lastly, stir in a can of chopped tomatoes and simmer altogether for about 8 minutes. Set aside when finished.

Step 3: Build the soup.

Just like the meat sauce, the soup starts with onion, garlic, ginger and tomato paste sautéed in some olive oil. Here, Lakshmi incorporates a bunch of flavorful chopped veggies, including carrots, celery, corn, jalapeño and turnips. Once again, a healthy helping of sumac, turmeric, chile powder and canned chopped tomatoes goes into the pot. After all that is mixed together, add 8 cups of water and bring to a boil just until the veggies are cooked.

Next, Lakshmi cooks up some enriched flour noodles (broken into 3's for a more traditional dish) and adds them right into the soup pot. Immediately after, stir some yogurt, lemon juice and fresh chopped cilantro, dill and mint into the vegetable soup.

Assembly

In a bowl, start by adding in the vegetable soup and then add a few scoops of meat sauce topped with the yogurt sauce and herbs. The cold, zesty yogurt sauce contrasts beautifully with the spicy soup, and the refreshing herbs topping the dish tie everything together.

Try making this recipe, or try our vegetarian recipe for Tarkari (Afghan Vegetable & Chickpea Soup) for a flavorful 35-minute dinner you can make any night of the week.