Spicy Lentil Soup

This totally fulfilled my craving for something warming, earthy and spicy. If I skipped the sour cream at the end, it would have been totally vegan. But sometimes, things call for sour cream.

Same rules apply to bacon.

Oh, and it's ready to eat in less than an hour and a half, and that does account for the time spent on a mad scramble for ingredients.

Note: I snapped the picture of this before I put any sour cream on it and by the time I started digging into it, it was gone about 4 bites later. Then I had another bowl, but the bowl was too messy to take a nice picture, so... next time, I'll not be so hasty. :)

Spicy Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• olive oil
• 1 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes with green chilis (like Ro-Tel) – drained, and with the juice reserved
• 1 cup dry brown lentils
• 4 cups water or vegetable broth
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• sour cream

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat.
   


2. Add onions, carrots, and celery; cook and stir until onion is translucent and soft.
   


3. Stir in garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
   


4. Stir in lentils, add broth, drained tomatoes & chilis and bay leaf, and oregano.
   


5. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for at least 1 hour.
   


6. Stir in the reserved juice, and season to taste with salt and pepper and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
   


7. Top with a generous dollop of sour cream.
   

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