Curried Lentil Potato Soup

So, I'm snowed in AGAIN. Actually it's not so bad; we only got five or six inches this time so hopefully the roads will be clear in time to get out of the house tomorrow or at the very least so I can go to work on Friday.

I had a few too many sweets yesterday, so I was feeling a bit off all day today. I usually eat in a pretty healthy way, but lately the winter blahs have led me to seek solace in sugar and carbs a bit too often. I wasn't even hungry at all today, which trust me is not a usual occurrence.

I decided I needed to make an "everything but the kitchen sink" kind of soup... something warm and comforting on a snowy day, and a soup that would be full of all the veggies that I needed to use up. I started pulling everything I could think of out of the cabinets, and this is what I ended up with!

This is more of a method than an actual recipe, and could easily be adapted to work with whatever you have on hand.

Curried Lentil Potato Soup

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil

5-6 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, diced

4-5 medium-sized potatoes, diced (I used Yukon Gold)

3-4 more diced veggies (I used half a bag of baby carrots cut into coins, the rest of a bag of green beans, rinsed and trimmed, and 3 summer squash, diced)

1 tsp sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp tumeric

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

6 c. vegetable broth

3 c. water

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 c. red lentils, rinsed & picked over for stones

1 c. brown rice blend

Directions:

1. Saute onions & garlic in olive oil in a large stock pot until onions become translucent and golden. Add spices, being liberal with salt & pepper. Add carrots, potatoes, and other veggies, and continue to saute until veggies start to brown.

2. Add vegetable broth, water and tomatoes. Stir thoroughly & bring mixture to a boil. Add lentils and brown rice blend. Bring to a boil again.

3. Reduce heat to simmer. Cover pot and let simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally (soup is done when rice is done).

That's it! This was easy, comforting, and healthy--exactly what I needed!