Slow cooker curried ginger lentil soup
Spring has sprung, so I can stop stifling the unreasonable irritation at Dave for always emphasizing how he loves salad. Don't those words even look ridiculous together? I love salad, too. But in cold winter months, I'm all about soup and stew. It's kind of like how your circadian rhythm makes a shift with daylight savings; when crocuses poke their heads out of the snow, I start relishing salad again.
Strangely, it doesn't work that way with soup, stew, and warm things. Maybe I'm just too frequently chilly, but I'll savor hearty soups year round, like hot coffee. I like how they make me emotionally slow down.
This week, we had some patchy cloud and last night, about an inch of wet, big-flaked snow. Nothing dramatic like an Old Man Winter raging with reluctance on his way out. Just a short spell of quiet white sky and hovering cloud, the kind that is actually calming and peaceful. Perfect for something like this soup/stew.
I wish for a change I was posting some wondrously novel flavor combination or idea, but you know where my culinary focus has been for the past seven months two weeks (since Little Monkey was born): what's minimal effort, maximum taste and nutrition in tandem. If it goes in the slow cooker, all the better...though of course it doesn't have to.
Add to, play with, throw whatever in...it's a kitchen sink kind of meal, again. Maybe your April is budding in a way that welcomes a bowl of soup, too. Yes or no, happy spring!
Curried ginger lentil soup Serves 4-6
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon peeled fresh ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- liberal shakes of ground black pepper
- dash sea salt
- 2 red bell peppers
- Approx 4 cups chopped kale, ribs removed
- Approximately 6 cups water
- 1 cup lentils, rinsed and drained (I used brown this time, but I love red)
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained, or about 2 cups tomatoes
1. Place all ingredients in a 6-quart slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
To adapt for a saucepan, sweat the carrot and onion in a little olive oil until softened, add spices and garlic and cook, stirring, about a minute. Add water and the rest of the vegetables; bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, about 30 minutes until lentils are tender.