Lucky Lentil Soup

These days, when people ask me what's new, I talk about two things:

1. Bullet journaling.
2. Buying grains and legumes in bulk.

And when I say bulk, I mean BULK. Forget a pound or two of beans in a Ziploc bag from the co-op. I'm talking 25 pounds of green lentils in a brown paper sack from Azure Standard.

With all those lentils in the basement and all that snow outdoors, of course lentil soup is on the menu. And throw in the black-eyed peas leftover from another recipe, why not.

Lucky Lentil Soup

This recipe is adapted from COOKIE + kate's Best Lentil Soup.

Ingredients.

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp cumin, toasted and ground
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp basil, dried
• 1.5 cups green or brown lentils, sorted and rinsed
• 0.5 cups dry black-eyed peas, rinsed 
• 1 medium Russet potato, diced
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2+ cups water
• red pepper flakes, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• 28 oz diced tomatoes
• 4-6 oz frozen spinach
• fish sauce, to taste (optional)
• lemon juice, to taste

Directions.

1. Gently heat the olive oil in a large pot. When shimmering, add the onions, carrots, and celery. Stir to coat with oil. Add salt. Sauté until just beginning to soften.
2. Add the garlic, cumin, curry powder, and basil. Sauté 30 seconds.
3. Add the lentils, black-eyed peas, potato, broth, and water. Stir. Add red pepper flakes and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until lentils and peas are tender, 20-30 minutes.
4. Purée 2 cups of the soup. Add back, along with the diced tomatoes and frozen spinach. Reheat and gently simmer 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat. Stir in a couple shakes of fish sauce and about a tablespoon of lemon juice to start with. Taste and adjust seasonings.

What's your favorite lentil soup recipe? Please leave me a link in the comments!