Lemony Lentil Soup

This was on thekitchn last week, and today seemed an appropriately rainy day to try it out.

I started with an onion, green onions, celery and garlic.

Throw it all in a pot with 2 t cumin, 1 t coriander, 1/4 t cloves and some olive oil.

Add the zest of one lemon, and save the lemon.

Cook it down till the vegetables are soft, and then add 2 cups of rinsed red lentils, and 2 bay leaves, which I'm pretty sure I was supposed to have added in the previous step. Whoops.

Then I added 8 cups of water, as dictated by the recipe. I think next time I'd use unsalted chicken or vegetable stock (not broth, though) for a bit more flavor. Let this cook for 30 minutes or so, until the lentils are cooked and falling apart. Then I added a couple of handfuls of torn spinach leaves, just for color, and and because I like spinach.

The recipe called for finishing it with 1/4 to 1/3 cup lemon juice, but I think I ended up using closer to 1/2 cup, between what I got from the zested lemon and what I squirted out of the bottle until I liked the taste of the soup. At the end, I added a few grinds of black pepper, and probably about a teaspoon of sea salt. Next time I make it, I'm going to up the spices, and use stock, and that'll probably reduce the amount of salt that's necessary, or maybe eliminate the need for it altogether.

I got some sourdough from the not-bad-half-bad-too-bad bread section (a classic Emily term for the day-old bread they sell at a discount), which was the perfect complement. A good meal for a rainy Sunday afternoon.