Warmin' Dem Bones

The thing about flying is one minute one can be sitting out on a back deck without a sweater eating Thanksgiving leftovers in 60 degree weather and a couple of hours later bundled up against a windy 30 degrees. And the wind chill hit me hard after returning from Atlanta to the Midwest's End of the Rainbow Valley. 

We needed something to warm us up besides the fireplace and since Natureman was going to be making a crusty peasant bread, a good hearty soup was in order. A lentil soup sounded just right.

Even though the pantry's orange lentils had been used up, plenty of brown lentils remained along with an abundance of tiny carrots and a waning lime that needed to be used...  
So Lentil Soup with Lime won out.

Prep: 35 min
Cook time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4

Lentil Soup with Lime ( courtesy of allrecipes.com) 

3 T olive oil 
1 lg onion chopped 
2 cloves garlic minced 
1 T  tomato paste ( I used homemade salsa)
1  t  ground cumin 
1/4 t kosher salt / to taste
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1/8 t chili powder or to taste 
1 quart chicken/vegetarian broth + 2 cups water 
1 c orange/dark lentils
1 lg  carrot / couple handfuls of baby carrots diced
1/2 of a lime/lemon (about 2 T)
3 T chopped fresh cilantro 
4 T extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
1 pinch chili powder 

*I used the food processor for chopping the ingredients. Hey, it's soup.

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in large pot over medium-high heat. 
2. Stir in onion and garlic. Cook 5 minutes until golden brown. 
3. Add tomato paste, cumin, kosher salt, black pepper and chili powder. Cook 2 minutes more.
4. Stir in broth, lentils, and carrot. Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes.
5. Pour half of soup into blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down blender lid with folded kitchen towel, and carefully start blender, using a few quick pulses to get soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. 

*I used a stick blender and pureed the soup right in the cooking pot. Do not puree all of the soup, leave it a little chunky. I prefer chunkier.

6.Stir in lemon juice and cilantro, then season to taste with salt. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle of chili powder to serve.

You'll be making this recipe more than once so you might as well save the recipe now.

Delicious.