Whoa! This (gorgeous, stunning, delicious, aromatic) red lentil soup defies logic. This is a simple recipe that just gets better and better. There is no one ingredient has a strong taste, it’s just a fabulous culmination of ingredients that tastes so fresh and delightful. It is literally a gorgeous soup!

Of course, being this time of year, I had to chase light around to get a photo (remembered on day 2), I ended up taking my soup bowl out on that back step (thank you Fred for waiting for dinner while I took photos).

This recipe is by Melissa Clark (infamous in the cooking world, most of you will know that name) for the New York Times. I subscribe (the recipes alone are worth it!) I love, love, love NYT. So, if you would like to print this recipe, hop over to the NYT Cooking site to print the Red Lentil Soup. Otherwise you can take a peek at how I made it below, which made about 6 servings:

📒 RED LENTIL SOUP (How I made it)

• 4-5 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling on top
• 1 large onion, chopped (I used yellow)
• 3 garlic cloves, microplaned
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt +
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Chili powder to sprinkle on top
• 2 quarts chicken broth (Fire & Kettle)
• 2 cups red lentils
• 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 6 tablespoons fresh Cilantro, washed, dried, chopped + extra to top

In a large soup pot, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat until oil is shimmering. Add onion and garlic, sauté about 4 minutes (until golden – keep an eye on it)

Stir in tomato paste, cumin, salt, pepper and chili powder, saute for 2 minutes.

Add broth, 2 cups water, lentils and carrot. Bring to simmer, partly cover and turn heat to medium low. Continue simmering until lentils are soft (taste test) – takes about 30 minutes. Add salt if needed.

Using an immersion or regular blender, puree half the soup, then add it back to the pot. Personally, I love it blended, so I blended everything and it was divine!

Reheat the soup and stir in the lemon juice and fresh cilantro!

Ladle into a bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil and a light sprinkle of chili powder. So pretty and unbelievably good. We served with Naan bread and it was perfection!

🥣 Until next time…