Get in My Belly: Indian-Spiced Lentil Soup (Slow-Cooker)

This recipe for lentil soup came to me in a bit of recipe-related serendipity.

See, we were unusually low on groceries, but I had this 1-pound bag of brown lentils and a green pepper, so I thought some soup would be good for dinner, as it would last a couple days until I got to the store. I hadn’t yet decided what direction I was going to go with it, seasoning-wise, and then this recipe appeared in the newspaper that morning. At any given time, I have a gerbillion spices in the house, so despite not having a lot of other ingredients, this worked out quite well. Here is how I adapted the recipe:

Indian-Spiced Lentil Soup

• 1 pound lentils (around 2-2 1/2 cups, I used regular brown ones)
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 10 cups chicken/vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup basmati rice (aka, I had that much hanging around and decided to toss it in)
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 cup olive oil (though I was out and used around 3 tbsp. canola)
• 2 large bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon dried cilantro (or fresh, if you have it)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

Give everything a good stir and let it cook in the slow-cooker on low for 6-8 hours. Remove the bay leaves before serving. It’s also good with a dollop of sour cream stirred in, or I’m sure plain yogurt would also work well. This makes around 8-10 not-small servings. It also tastes very good the next day.