Spiced Lentil Soup

With our first winter storm en route to Ottawa and the first signs of a sinus cold creeping in, I decided a warming soup was just what I needed.  I went back to an older recipe - I have no idea where it came from - that I used to make more often than I do now.  I think maybe the Mister didn't love it back then, so I stopped making it.  His taste buds have changed so dramatically since moving here, that I'm thinking it's time to reintroduce it.  He is away for the time being, so I made a half batch for myself and my developing cold.
This soup introduced me to lentils, wee tiny du Puy Lentils that I could get at Pete's Frootique in Halifax.  I found these at the Bulk Barn (non GMO yay!) just labelled as 'Organic French Lentils'

The ingredients are aromatic and I hope they give my cold a good solid punch

I love that soup tastes bright and flavourful right away.  Our general rule here, is that soup tastes better the next day, but here you don't have to wait!

You could add more veggies to this to bulk it up - if I had baby spinach right now, I'd throw a handful of that in.   I have no excuse for not having a better selection of veggies, working at a grocery store that has the freshest of the fresh!  However, I do like that there is fairly minimal chopping for a soup so loaded with flavour.

Spiced Lentil Soup

2 Large tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red chili, deseeded and minced *
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp turmeric
1 whole star anise
1 cup du Puy lentils, rinsed
4 1/2 cups stock
2 tbsp fish sauce
juice of a lemon
100grams creamed coconut
salt and pepper to taste

     Peel and seed the tomatoes, then chop to a small dice.  Heat oil in large saucepan or stock pot over medium heat.  Saute onion, garlic, chili, cardamom, turmeric and star anise.  Add tomatoes and cook until onion is soft, about 5 minutes.  Stir in lentils and stock; simmer, partially covered, until the lentils are soft, about 25 minutes.  Add the fish sauce, lemon juice and coconut cream, stirring until the coconut has melted.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

* remember to wear gloves when chopping chilis!!!!!

garnished with finely chopped green onions

I hope you give this lovely soup a try on a cold blustery day- xoxox