Warming Lentil Soup

A few weeks ago I made a lentil quinoa soup. It was warming and delicious. Today I was craving a more traditional lentil soup, so I made a Moroccan style soup.

This can be made in the slow cooker set to low for about 8 hours, or it can be made much quicker on the stove in about one hour.


2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic crushed
1 small onion diced fine
2 celery stalks diced
2 carrots diced
2 teaspoons, ground coriander
1 teaspoon, ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon, ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon, sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon, ground cinnamon
Salt and Pepper
6 cups vegetable broth
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 cups dried red lentils, picked over, washed, and rinsed
Pinch of red-pepper flakes
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan oven or saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, coriander, cumin, turmeric, paprika, cinnamon, salt, and pepper, and cook for another minute.

Add the broth and tomatoes and heat to boiling. Stir in the lentils, cover and simmer on high, 1 hour or so until the lentils are tender.

Ten minutes before serving, stir in the pepper flakes, lemon juice, parsley, cover, and cook an additional ten minutes. Serve hot.