Coconut Curry Lentil Soup

VA VA VOOM! Well, here you go foodie folks! One of the most delicious soups I have ever made. Okay I'll be honest. I don't have much experience making soups but now I am officially hooked.

First and foremost, I apologize for slacking off and leaving my food blog on the back burner to the many assignments I have been recently given before summer starts. Yes, I am in the thick of finals and it sucks. All these papers and exams are absorbing my extra time and I find myself struggling to even make the simplest dishes!

That being said, summer is just around the corner and I intend to test many recipes that I can share with you all. Last weekend though, I did manage to shove my textbooks aside and make a wonderful soup that I hope you all will try.

Living on my own, I am beginning to realize how difficult it is to actually use the numerous ingredients I waste my money on. What does one do when their friends are vegetarians? I guess that's just part of going to school in Oregon. Well, what I have found is always resort to lentil soup! Yes lentils can be bland, but this recipe is far from it! Last week, I was constantly wishing for some Indian food to fall in my lap or anything with flavor for that matter. And then, I was reading one of my favorite food blogs, 101 Cookbooks, and stumbled upon this fabulous dish. Perfect for a dinner party because I could make plenty of it, send everyone off with a package to freeze at home and it was a complete vegetarian dish that was tastyyyyy! Everyone would be wonderfully satisfied!

Above, the raisins cook down with butter, freshly chopped ginger, green onions, and finally my all time favorite ingredient...CURRY! I could eat this stuff plain...and I totally did. Will you please just appreciate the glorious colors this dish produces? Yellow, green, brown, orange. Maybe I should have made this in the fall. Nahhh, it's too damn good. Have I mentioned yet that you serve it over brown or white rice? I know, so deadly.

Vegans, if you are at all interested in recreating this recipe, substitute the butter for olive oil and you are set! Like I mentioned before, I doubled the ingredients because I knew I would want some leftovers. Also, don't be shy to add more of an ingredient if you absolutely love it. In the end, I used more curry than the recipe called for and added more raisins.

Coconut Lentil Curry Soup:
adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Ingredients:
1 cup of split peas
1 cup of red lentils
7 cups of water
1 medium sized carrot, cut into 1/2 inch dice

2 tablespoons of freshly peeled and minced ginger

2 tablespoons of curry powder

2 tablespoons of butter
8 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
1/3 cup of raisins, or yellow raisins (I just used what was in the pantry)
1/3 cup of tomato paste
1 14-ounce can of coconut milk
2 teaspoons of sea salt
1 small handful of cilantro, chopped

Cooked brown rice or white rice

Directions:
Wash both the lentils and peas under water until all the murky water disappears. Place directly into a deep, soup pot on the stove and cover with water, bringing it to a boil. Immediately reduce to a simmer and follow by adding 1/4 of the ginger and the diced carrot. Cover completely for 30 minutes, or until the split peas and lentils are soft.

In the meantime, toast the curry powder in a small saucepan until very fragrant. Be cautious when doing so because you don't want it to burn. Set aside. Place the butter in a pan over medium heat, add the green onions, rest of the ginger, and raisins to saute. Stir for two minutes constantly, then add the tomato paste and continue for two minutes or longer.

Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato paste and raisin mixture. Mix thoroughly and then stir into the simmering soup. Once combined, add the coconut milk and salt. Uncovered, simmer this for around 20 minutes or until thickened. You can play with the consistency by adding more water if you'd like. The thicker the soup became, the more I liked it.

When finished, spoon into bowls. Don't forget about the brown rice!