Lentil Soup with Lemon

Yum ... yum ... yum!!

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com while searching for an easy lentil soup recipe! It's easy and really, really good! Instead of carrots, I used 1 smallish sized yam and diced it. I also scooped Jacob's serving out before I added the lemon juice.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
• 
  
• 1 (32 ounce) carton chicken broth
• 1 cup red lentils
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
• 1 pinch chili powder

Directions

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and cook until the onion has turned golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, kosher salt, black pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon of chili powder. Cook and stir 2 minutes more until the spices are fragrant.
2. Stir in the chicken broth, lentils, and carrot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lentils are soft, about 30 minutes.
3. Pour half of the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot. Do not puree all of the soup, leave it a little chunky.
4. Stir in the lemon juice and cilantro, then season to taste with salt. Drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of chili powder to serve.

From AllRecipes.com

Red Lentil and Yam Curry with Warm Pita Bread

Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
Coarse sea salt or kosher salt
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp curry powder
1 bay leaf
1 ½ cups red lentils
Pita bread

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. In a saucepan or kettle, bring 3 ½ cups of water to a boil.
2. In a large saucepan over high heat, warm the oil. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, and 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Add the sweet potato, ginger, garlic, curry powder and bay leaf and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour in the boiling water and stir in the lentils. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the lentils break down and the sweet potatoes are tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Season with salt.
4. While the potatoes and lentils are cooking, wrap a stack of pita breads in a slightly damp cotton towel, and place in oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Serves 4

(from Treehugger.com)