a warming soup…

Here in the northeast, the leaves are changing to beautiful shades of gold, copper, and brilliant red.  Chestnuts have already dropped to the ground with their spiny pods cracked open revealing smooth, shiny wood grain nuts…acorns crunch underfoot as I take my daily walk.   Even in the bright sunlight, under a cloudless blue sky, the air is chilly.

This is a great soup to enjoy as fall turns to winter…

                                                Red Lentil Dal

 use 4 cups of red lentils – rinse in cold water, skim off foam

1 large leek – sliced

4 stalks of celery sliced

2 baked yams crumbled up

Baked butternut squash spooned out of it’s skin

cut squash in half, seed, cut into pieces that will fit in glass baking dish, add about a 1/2 inch of water to baking dish, add a good shake of ground cloves and a shake-shake of cinnamon to the water, add the squash, cover with tin foil, bake @ 400 for an hour with the yams

 optional things to add to the mix…

 sliced mushrooms

small-bite pieces of cauliflower

2 cups frozen corn

 two handfuls of grated carrots

4 cloves of garlic minced

3” pc. ginger peeled and grated

fresh ground pepper, garam masala, cumin to taste

chopped parsley or cilantro

Put lentils in large soup pot, rinse with cold water…they will foam, just keep pouring this foam off, repeat rinse until most of foam is gone…fill the pot 3/4′s full with cold water and bring to a boil…continue to skim off foam as lentils come to a boil…simmer for about 20-30 minutes…they’ll turn yellow and turn into a nice semi-thick sauce. 

 In another large soup pot, use enough oil (preferably coconut oil or olive oil) to coat the bottom of the pot…saute leeks, celery, mushrooms and cauliflower for about 5 minutes…add a good glug-glug of tamari…add the cooked lentils, baked yams,squash, carrots, corn, garlic, ginger, pepper, garam masala, cumin, chopped parsley or cilantro…stir over a low flame till all the ingredients and flavors are blended.   I often times add dissolved white miso to the broth for a creamy flavor.

This is great served with brown rice or quinoa.  You should be able to get 12-16 servings from this recipe for a large group, or you can freeze half for another meal.

                                                            Enjoy!

                   ~ use ORGANIC ingredients whenever possible ~

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