Lentil Soup with Lemon

  • Delicious! From allrecipes.com; the original is here. I made it as is except in step 4; I only added the lemon juice. I do think you need to use the red lentils because, from what I read online, they get softer when cooked than the other varieties.

    Ingredients
    • 3 tablespoons olive oil
    • 1 large onion, chopped
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
    • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
    • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
    • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    • 1/8 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
    • 1 (32 ounce) carton chicken broth
    • 1 cup red lentils
    • 1 large carrot, diced
    • 2 tablespoons lemon juice, or to taste
    • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
    • 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
    • 1 pinch chili powder

    Directions
    1. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and cook until the onion has turned golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, kosher salt, black pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon of chili powder. Cook and stir 2 minutes more until the spices are fragrant.
    2. Stir in the chicken broth, lentils, and carrot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lentils are soft, about 30 minutes.
    3. Pour half of the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot. Do not puree all of the soup, leave it a little chunky.
    4. Stir in the lemon juice and cilantro, then season to taste with salt. Drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of chili powder to serve.