Coconut Red Lentil Soup

I thought for just a moment that summer had arrived, but alas, more rain. Is it ever going to end? I had officially sworn off warming soups until this past weekend. Spending a few hours watching my son play his last baseball game in the pouring rain was enough for me to come home and break out the Le Creuset and make this delicious, warming soup.

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

1 cup / 7 oz / 200g yellow split peas
1 cup 7 oz / 200g red split lentils (masoor dal)
7 cups
1 medium carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons coconut oil, ghee or butter
8 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
one small handful cilantro, chopped

Give the split peas and lentils a good rinse - until they no longer put off murky water. Place them in an extra-large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the carrot and 1/4 of the ginger. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft.

In the meantime, in a small dry skillet or saucepan over low heat, toast the curry powder until it is quite fragrant. Be careful though, you don't want to burn the curry powder, just toast it. Set aside. Place the coconut oil or butter in a pan over medium heat, add half of the green onions, and the remaining ginger. Saute for two minutes stirring constantly, then add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two more.

Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato paste mixture, mix well, and then add this to the simmering soup along with the coconut milk and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so. The texture should thicken up, but you can play around with the consistency if you like by adding more water, a bit at a time, if you like. Or simmer longer for a thicker consistency. The thicker this soup got, the more I liked it. Sprinkle each bowl generously with cilantro and the remaining green onions.

Serves 6.