Curry lentil soup

I love having my friends over for dinner. Not only are they great company, it gives me an awesome opportunity to try new dishes. They're always polite and say it's good, but I know that they'll also tell me when I shouldn't make something again. =]

A couple weekends ago, I tried out a curry lentil soup. I loosely adapted it from a slow cooker sweet potato soup I gleaned off the Food Network.

I started off with a fine dice of all my ingredients - potatoes, carrots, celery, onion. I grated a thumb size piece of ginger and sprinkled garam masala on top.

Next up, dried lentils! I had a mix of green and brown lentils sitting in my jar, so I used both for variety.

I let them mingle in the crock pot while I got my stock. I used vegetable broth, but feel free to use whatever broth you have on hand - beef, chicken, mushroom, etc.

I stuck the crockpot on high, because I didn't start this until the afternoon. By the time dinner time rolled around, my house was smelling absolutely divine, and the stock has reduced to a dark and delicious hue. I topped it off with some water and let it simmer some more while I made my curry lemon mix.

Top it off with some cilantro, and you have an easy and hearty soup dinner!

Curry Lentil Soup 

4 potatoes, peeled and diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
3 stalks of celery, chopped into 1 cm pieces
1 onion, diced
3/4 cup lentils, dried
2" ginger, grated
1 tsp + 1 tsp garam masala
salt
8 cup stock (or water)
1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 lemon, juiced
fresh cilantro for serving 

1. Cook potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, lentils, ginger, 1 tsp garam masala, salt, and 6 cup stock on high for 4 hours in a crockpot.
2. After 4 hours, thin soup with remaining stock if desired.
3. In a small saucepan, cook butter, garlic and 1 tsp garam masala until toasted (1 minute). Stir mixture into the soup.
4. Serve with cilantro, lemon wedges and French bread.