Red Lentil Soup with Lemon

Every Wednesday, I anxiously await the few moments when I can read the New York Times' Wednesday Dining column. I really enjoy Mark Bittman's column and think he resonates with his readers, food lovers that don't necessarily have all day to make a dish from Gourmet magazine; he keeps it simple. This summer, he did a brilliant feature called "101 Simple Meals, ready in 10 minutes or less", I picked up a few tricks to get a healthy dinner on the table very quickly post work.

On January 9th, The Times printed the recipe for a Red Lentil Soup with Lemon by Melissa Clarke. Her article described how she tried the awe inspiring soup at a friend's and convinced me this soup was special enough to try right away. By Saturday, my hand blender was out of the closet! I doubled the recipe and have been enjoying it for weeks.

It is perfect: it's aesthetically pleasing, low maintenance, healthy, tasty and has a great texture and a nice zing of cumin & lemon.

Red Lentil Soup With Lemon
New York Times 1/9/08
Time: 45 minutes

3 tablespoons olive oil, more for drizzling
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of ground chili powder or cayenne, more to taste
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup red lentils
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
Juice of 1/2 lemon, more to taste
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1. In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat until hot and shimmering. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes.
2. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder or cayenne, and sauté for 2 minutes longer.
3. Add broth, 2 cups water, lentils and carrot. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary.
4. Using an immersion or regular blender or a food processor, purée half the soup then add it back to pot. Soup should be somewhat chunky.
5. Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice and cilantro. Serve soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted lightly with chili powder if desired.

Yield: 4 servings. I doubled it. It also freezes well.