Sunday Soup: Red Lentil

I apologize for last week's lack of posting.  Between home renovations, my engagement party and birthday celebrations, I hardly had time to sleep let alone cook! Not that I am complaining- my week was filled with decadent desserts, eating out and more junk food than should be consumed by anyone ever.

That being said, it's time to re-start my attempt at healthy living. Yesterday was the first time in two weeks that I saw the inside of a grocery store and now my fridge is stocked with healthy options (I still have a stockpile of desserts on my kitchen counter. Luckily, I have overdosed on sugar and am completely uninterested in eating the butter tarts, cupcakes and cookies that would normally taunt me).

Last night I dusted off my pots and pans (renovations leave dust EVERYWHERE) and I made a delicious lentil soup.  Earlier last week I went for Middle Eastern food with some friends and had an amazing butter and cream-free lentil soup.  That dinner served as my inspiration for this week's Sunday Soup:

Middle Eastern Inspired Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of red lentils
• 6-7 cups of chicken stock
• 1 large onion
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• 1 tbs ground cumin
• 1/2-1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup of lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot bring lentils and 6 cups of chicken stock to a boil.  Turn down heat, cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until lentils are soft.  While the lentils are simmering, saute onions and garlic in a pan with olive oil until the onions are translucent.  Once the lentils are soft, pour in onion mixture, add cumin and cayenne pepper and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for another 10 minutes.  Blend well with an immersion blender (the soup is pretty thick, so I added another cup of stock at this point to thin it out a bit).  Add lemon juice and garnish with cilantro. Serve with warm naan bread and enjoy!