Sunday, November 2, 2008

Curry Lentil Soup


Ahh, November. A new month, no more Daylight Savings Time, and a new rotation for Joe. My oven is still broken (no, I'm not finished griping about it yet), but I had this soup on the meal schedule anyway. I've figured I can sneak things that I like (vegetarian soups! lentils!) by Joe as long as they are strongly flavored. I see a lighter meal. Joe sees Indian food. It all works out.
Lentils are great because they cook quickly unlike some other beans, making this a doable weeknight meal. I found myself wishing for some naan or raita though, either which would make an appropriate companion for this soup.

Curry Lentil Soup
adapted from SparkRecipes


Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp curry powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp chili (or cayenne) powder (less if you don't like the heat)
1 qt, vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 cup lentils
1 large carrot, chopped
Instructions

1. In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat until hot and shimmering. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes.
2. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder or cayenne, and sauté for 2 minutes longer.
3. Add broth, 2 cups water, lentils and carrot. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary.
4. Using an immersion or regular blender or a food processor, purée half the soup then add it back to pot. Soup should be somewhat chunky. Reheat soup if necessary.
Optional: stir in 1/2 a lemon's worth of juice and 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro. Serve soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted lightly with chili powder if desired.
Yield: 4 servings.

Nutritional Info:

Calories: 201.2
Total Fat: 10.7 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 1,059.5 mg
Total Carbs: 21.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.9 g
Protein: 5.9 g

4 comments:

Sarah said...

I made this exact soup minus the curry powder last night!! Same recipe and everything. That's a crazy coincidence.

That Girl said...

I could see Joe wanting more than just soup for dinner. I'm impressed you've figured out a way to trick him ;-)

Cate said...

My husband never wants just soup for dinner either! This totally looks like my kind of meal, though!

Anonymous said...

Chili powder and cayenne have such different flavors...I'm surprised that they're interchangeable. I think I'd have to go with the cayenne.