Lentil Soup (whole masoor soup)

I have been making a lot of soups the last few months. This lentil soup is my favourite soup to make and eat. It is comforting and filling like soups and lentils usually are. We love it with a slice of baguette and call it a meal. Today is one of those days that is perfect for this soup. It is cloudy, rainy and cold. I just soaked the lentils to make this for lunch and I am so looking forward to it.

I cannot stand the smell and taste of raw celery. The only place I use celery is in this soup (maybe a few other soups too!) because I think the soup just tastes perfect with the celery in it. I peel and very finely chop the celery so I just get the flavor of celery in the soup but not a chunk of it. I do the peeling and chopping for all the celery that I buy and place it in the freezer. So I have to deal with the smell of it just once and then I can just use the prepared celery from the freezer.

Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup	whole masoor dal
1	onion
1/4 cup	finely chopped celery
3	carrots
3 large	garlic cloves
1 tbsp	tomato paste
1 tbsp	olive oil
1/2 tsp	coriander powder
1 tsp	cumin powder
1/2	boullion cube
1/2	lemon
1/2	bouillon cube
1/2 tsp	italian seasoning
1/2 tsp	pepper

Method

• Wash and soak the lentils for a couple of hours. This step is optional. Lentils will just take longer to cook if not soaked.
• Heat olive oil in a pot. Add chopped onion, celery, garlic and carrots. Saute on med-low heat till the onions are translucent.
• Add tomato paste, coriander and cumin powders and cook till the raw smell is gone from the paste. Add a couple teaspoons of water if needed.
• Add the lentils and bouillon cube. Add salt (about a teaspoon) and a cup of water.
• Cover and cook for about 20 minutes till the lentils are completely cooked. If unsoaked lentils were used, it might take about half an hour.
• Add juice of half a lemon, italian seasoning and pepper.
• Grill a slice of baguette with some olive oil and get ready to dig in.