Cumin Lentil Soup

When I saw this recipe for lentil soup on Someone's in the Kitchen with Brina... I knew I had to try it. I bought lentils previously to try a vegetarian meatloaf and still had half a lb left over. The lentil soups I’ve always had were from delis during lunch time, and they were always too salty. I liked this version because I had all the ingredients on hand (except for the onions, which I thought I had), and it looked fairly simple for a weeknight dinner.

I am also submitting this to Joelen’s Tasty Tools for February. This month’s event highlights the food processor.

Her original recipe called for 10 cups of water, which I already knew was way too much for the 2 of us. I halved the recipe and adapted it to what I had on hand.

Cumin Lentil Soup
Adapted from: Someone’s in the Kitchen with Brina…

Ingredients:
3 carrots, peeled and chopped*
2 celery ribs, chopped*
1 small onion, chopped (I realized I didn’t have any after I started, so I used 1 tsp onion powder)
1 1/2 cups green lentils
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBS vegetable oil
1 bay leaves
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups chicken stock (or water to make it vegetarian)
3 cups cold water

*I will admit that I cheated a little and did not chop the vegetables. I ended up putting the carrots, celery, and garlic in the food processor and pulsed it a few times. However some pieces were bigger than the others. I think it was better for me because this is the only way I can sneak celery into Gary’s meals (as I do with other vegetables too). He doesn’t like celery, but he gobbled this up. My secret to getting a picky eater to eat his vegetables!

Directions:
1. Sort and rinse lentils. Using a soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and basil, and sweat for about 10 minutes.

2. Add the cumin, bay leaves, lentils and water. Stir and turn up heat until it boils. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 35 minutes.

3. Remove the bay leaves and season to taste, if you want more salt and pepper.