Curried Red Lentil & Sweet Potato Soup

The soup party is on folks and nothing warms my soul and my stomach on a cold January evening on a Sunday but a bowl of nice hot soup…I wonder what a bowl of mean soup would be?  Anyway, my recipe for this creamy curried red lentil & sweet potato soup came out delicious and it’s good for you.   Put that cheeseburger down and dive into this protein and beta-carotene loaded soup to fight your cold or just to comfort your chilled bones.   Easy to put together and pureeing half the soup gives it a velvety and creamy texture.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups of red lentils

1 large onion, chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

3 cups of chopped cauliflower

2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger

2 tablespoons yellow curry powder

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 teaspoons ground cumin

½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed

2 bay leaves

8 cups of vegetable stock

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and celery until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Add garlic, cauliflower, ginger, curry, cayenne pepper, cumin, black pepper, sweet potato and cook for 5 minutes more.
3. Stir in lentils, vegetable stock and bay leaves, bring to boil and reduce to simmer for about 45 minutes.
4. Ladle half the soup into a blender or into a bowl and puree until smooth with a blender or immersion blender, pour back into the soup and stir. Serves 4 to 6