Spiced red lentil and carrot soup (that won me a farmer)

It has only just dawned on me that you would not be silly for thinking I am Vegetarian. In recipe 1, there was cauliflower fritters and in recipe 2, I confessed to the world that I am an avid Brussel Sprouts lover!
I am going to knock you down with a feather right here, right now. I am not vegetarian!!! This fact now on the table and I am still truly desperate to share this next recipe with you! I have cooked it so much of late & I simply love it so much. This week we have been donning the apron for ......drumroll.............yes, all non vegetarian's favourite (eh hem), Spiced red lentil and carrot soup! Don't jump ship guys. This is awesome and we will soon move on to meatier dishes (I promise).

I had a farmer attend one of my Vegetarian cooking classes last year. We only run this class a couple of times a year & this is the one class out of all of them that his girlfriend (bless her cotton socks) booked him in to. Apparently this guy has never had a day without meat! Talk about pressure & he was a big burly lad too. Needless to say, I was a wee bit afraid! Reading through the menu with him of what we were to cook this particular night, I thought he was going to a) run and b) practice his left hook right between my eyes as he read the word 'lentil'. He lived through the trauma of adding lentils to the pan & I kid you not, he raved about the final result (even though he did add that it could be improved with a touch of lamb!!)

This soup makes me feel so 'good'. This is big praise for food I think. Delicious & that you can feel it doing you 'good'. This makes me one happy girl! Oh...and a little word of advice - you just have to try the toasted bread with the goats cheese (with or without the soup). Many of you know already know the avid affection I hold for 'Meredith Dairy' fabulous goats cheese. I like to hold a fairly large supply in our massive fridge & have been know to get the shakes if we go below 6 jars! Therapy anyone?

4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
250g Persian Red lentils, washed and drained
A pinch of dried chilli flakes or 1 long red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped
2 tablespoons of tomato paste (optional)
2 teaspoons of ground coriander
2 teaspoons of ground cumin
1.5 litres of water (or can use half water and half chicken stock for even
More goodness & more flavour)
100ml natural yoghurt
Sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper
Olive oil and finely chopped parsley or coriander, to serve

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and
Celery and cook, stirring gently for 5-10 minutes. Add the red lentils,
ground coriander, ground cumin and stir to combine. Cover with 1.5 litres
of water (or stock) and bring to the boil. Turn heat down, season to taste,
cover saucepan and simmer for 30-40 minutes.

Stir in the yoghurt and check again for seasoning.

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and garnished with the freshly chopped
parsley or coriander.

In addition, I love to serve this (or any soup) with some thinly sliced olive bread,drizzled with olive oil and chargrilled. Whilst hot, I spread with a layer of 'Meredith dairy' goats cheese. If I
have some caramelised onions in the fridge, some of these on top of 'Meredith Dairy' goats cheese is, well 'heaven on a plate' for me!My preferred way to caramelise onions : Heat a large pan over low heat. Add 2 or more finely sliced brown onions & cook for approximately 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until very soft. Add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (it is this extra touch that makes all the difference to your everyday caramelised onions), pinch of salt & some pepper & cook for 5 minutes longer until the onions are caramelized.Remove from the heat & leave to cool.