Lentil Soup with Lemon

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, more for drizzling
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• Pinch of ground chile powder or cayenne, more to taste
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup red lentils
• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• Juice of 1/2 lemon, more to taste
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

• Nutritional Information

Preparation

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.
5. Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice and cilantro. Serve soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted lightly with chili powder if desired.

French Lentil Soup

French Lentil Soup
from My Pantry by Alice Waters

1 and 1/2 cups green lentils (the smallest ones are really good in this soup)
2 T. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 small celery stalk, diced
sea salt ad freshly ground pepper
2 large or 3 small garlic cloves, diced or crushed
1 tsp. cumin
3/4 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 quarts vegetable stock, or 1 quart water & 1 quart vegetable stock
1 bunch spinach (leaves only) washed, rinsed and roughly torn 
Juice of one lemon
basil and or cilantro leaves for topping

Sort and rinse the lentils thoroughly

Pour the oil into a heavy-bottomed pot and heat over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and saute 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the garlic, cumin, coriander and cayenne. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the lentils and stock along with a couple of pinches of salt. Bring to a boil, skim off froth, and simmer for 25 - 40 minutes until lentils are soft and fully cooked. Stir in the spinach and cook for 2 minutes. Just before serving, add the lemon juice. Top with cilantro/basil leaves and a dash of olive oil and freshly ground pepper.

Winter version: Substitute kale for the spinach, and add roasted chunks of winter squash right before serving.

The Best Lentil Soup

Cover 1 cup lentils with water. Boil 3 minutes and drain.

Add 6 cups of water (or 3 cups vegetable broth and 3 cups water), 1 large stalk celery finely sliced, 1 large carrot finely chopped, 3 cloves garlic, minced, 1 medium onion, chopped, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 3/4 c. tomato sauce, 1 bay leaf.

(I usually enlarge the recipe a bit by using one and a half cup of lentils, 4 cups water, 4 cups broth, 2 stalks celery, 2 carrots, a large onion, and a cup of tomato sauce).

Bring to a boil, cover and simmer one to one-and-a-half hours. Add more water if needed.

Add 2 - 3 T. red wine vinegar (helps to use a really good brand of vinegar), stir, and cook 10 minutes longer.