Curried Lentil Soup

Lentils. Not that anyone could tell from this blog, but I'm slightly obsessed. I'm 90% positive I could have them everyday for the rest of my life and be satisfied. If I chose my last meal before passing it would be lentils with some sautéed cabbage. I would estimate that we go through an average of a pound of lentils per week here in the Welchmeyer household. Obviously my doing, but Mark enjoys them about as much.

Most of the time I just boil them in some broth for a quick side with dinner, hardly blog worthy. What is  blog worthy, however, is this quick curry flavored lentil soup. I've made it for lunch every Wednesday for the last 2 months and will continue to make it for the foreseeable future.

On top of being ridiculously filling and embarrassingly simple, its one of those meals that leaves an awesome aftertaste in your mouth for hours. Based on my recipe for basic lentil soup I posted awhile ago, this is a worthy upgrade. One that I highly suggest trying. Serve with some crusty bread or crackers for a healthy, light lunch.

Basic Lentil Soup

Now that fall has arrived full force here in the midwest my body is in soup-desire overdrive. There hasn't been a day in the last week that I haven't had an aching for some kind of soup. A couple days ago I wanted a light lentil soup and came up with this not-so-imaginitive recipe, but hey its exactly what I was looking for. Served with some drop biscuits, butter, and honey my rather boring soup became infinitely more swoon-worthy.

I would highly suggest serving this soup with a more calorie dense add-on as it is, albeit healthy, extremely low in the calorie department. So get everything simmering, make yummy Panera-like sandwiches, and in 30 minutes time you will have a body-warming meal on the table.

Served with aforementioned biscuits

Basic Lentil Soup

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

4 cups broth of choice

1 cup water

1 cup dry green lentils, picked over and rinsed

1 small onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrot, chopped

1/8-1/4 cup salsa (or a can of diced tomatoes)

4 teaspoons of your favorite herbs (I used basil, oregano, and thyme)

2 bay leaves

salt & pepper

Directions:

Bring broth and water to a boil in a large stock pot over medium heat.

While liquid is heating chop carrots & onion and mince garlic cloves. Once broth is boiling stir all remaining ingredients into pot.

Bring everything back to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to simmer.

Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes, or until carrots are soft.

Serve with a side salad and bread.

Enjoy :)