NYT Red Lentil Soup

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced¹
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground chile powder or cayenne pepper, more to taste²
• 1 quart of chicken or vegetable stock (leaving out the added 2 cups of water from original recipe³)
• 1 cup red lentils
• 2~3 large carrots, peeled & diced
• salt to taste
• juice of 1/2~1 lemon
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat 3 Tbsp olive oil over high heat until shimmering. Add onion and garlic. Saute until golden, about 4 min.
2. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, black pepper, and chile powder. Saute another 2 min.
3. Add stock, lentils, and carrot. Bring to simmer, then cover and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 min. Taste and add salt if needed.
4. Puree soup with immersion blender. Don’t over-blend: soup should be somewhat chunky.
5. Stir in lemon juice and cilantro.