Cream of Lentil Soup

Rachel of Rachel vs. "The Kitchen"  recently celebrated her one year blogoversary and held a terrific giveaway. She gave away a fabulous Taste of Home Prize Winning Recipes magazine, which has a collection of 200 delicious, family tested and family approved  recipes.  And I won!   If you have visited with Rachel yet, I hope that you do.  She's down to earth, an absolute delight, and her recipes always leave me saying, "I have to make this!"

Let me assure you, the minute I received this magazine, I sat down and read it from cover to cover;  I think I've read it every single night since it arrived in my mailbox.  There are so many tempting recipes in there that I didn't know which to choose first; I had a dozen bookmarked. Then I remembered my New Year's food resolution:  to try new-to-me foods, to break out of my staid food habits, to try the "exotic."  What better way to celebrate a thoughtful gift.

Was I one of the last people on this planet to try lentils?    I don't know why it took me so long to try them, but I was reluctant.  And curry?  Well, I used to love curry then it fell out of favor with me, but slowly I've been reacquainting myself with its warm flavor and aroma.  Soooo....

When I saw this Cream of Lentil Soup, I knew I had to at least give it a try. Lots of fresh vegetables.  And cream.

Are all lentils created equally?  I do not know.  I had a package of red lentils; I had a package of brown lentils.  I went with the red because I liked the color.  I didn't know what to expect.  The recipe does not specify.

First of all, I was surprised to see that they cooked down, absorbing most of the cooking liquid, and became quite soft, as in a pea soup.  I think I was expecting something more like a bean or barley, where they'd hold their shape  They definitely have a bean-like or pea-like flavor, quite pleasant actually, which is a good thing since this soup is a a lentil soup after all. 

What made the soup for me, though, was the curry.  Wow!  I am definitely back in love with curry.  For me this soup has just the perfect amount, spicy, aromatic, warm but not overpowering.  I would definitely make this soup again, but it would have to be just for me.  Ole Sweetie-Pi tried a spoonful of it, cocked his head to one side, looked thoughtful, and then said, "I almost like this."  And then he went and made himself a sandwich.  Oh, well.

Let me give you the recipe as written and then I'll follow with my own changes.

Cream of Lentil Soup

6 cups reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups dried lentils, rinsed
1 bay leaf
1 whole clove **
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley

In a large saucepan, combine broth, lentils, bay leaf and clove.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until lentils are tender.

Meanwhile, in a Dutch-oven, saute onion and celery in butter until crisp-tender.  Add the carrots, salt, sugar, curry powder and pepper.  Saute two to three minutes longer or until vegetables are tender.  Add garlic; cook one minute longer. 

Drain lentils. ***  Discard bay leaf and clove.  Add to vegetable mixture.  Stir in the spinach, cream, lemon juice and parsley.  Cook over low heat until heated through and spinach is wilted. 

**I don't keep whole cloves in the spice rack, so I just added a pinch of ground cloves.

***I'm not sure why the lentils are drained. If it's to remove the bay leaf , I just fished about in the soup til I found the bay leaf and removed it.  I was not about to drain the lentils and then do what with the broth?  Toss it?  I don't think so!  I paid good money for that broth and it's staying in the soup.  Plus, the lentils absorbed most of the liquid anyway, and I don't think the soup would have had enough liquid with just the cream.  As it was, I probably could have used more broth, and the next time I make this soup, I'll keep that in mind. 

Rachel, thank you so much for hosting your giveaway and for drawing my name!  Happy blogoversary to you, my friend.  I look forward to savoring many more of your delicious posts.