The quantities in this recipe may be cut in half, or make the entire recipe and freeze some for later!

Serves: 8
Preparation Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter or ghee

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 Tablespoon good-quality sweet curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne (or up to 1/2 teaspoon)

2 bay leaves

2 cups orange lentils, picked over and rinsed

6 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 14.5-oz can tomatoes, passed through a food mill

½ pound potato, peeled and cubed (optional)

½ pound spinach, washed well and cut into ribbons (or just torn into pieces)

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a large soup pot, saute onion in butter until translucent. Add tomato paste, curry powder, cumin, and cayenne and stir until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Add lentils, tomatoes, bay leaves, broth, and potato. Partially cover, bring to a boil, and cook until lentils and potato are tender, about 20-30 minutes, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface. Remove from heat and puree soup a bit with an immersion blender (but don't make it too smooth). Return to heat, stir in spinach and salt and pepper to taste, and cook for a minute or so until spinach is wilted into the soup.