Trish’s ‘Warm Down to Your Toes’ Red Lentil Soup

Winter nights are cold in Tucson. No really, bloody cold. Just not holy crap Scotland cold. A couple of nights ago the temperatures dropped down to 23 degrees Fahrenheit. My resolve to not turn the heating on until Solstice is gone. The water pipes to the swamp cooler are also shot. And water is pouring off the roof. My worries about baked chickens in the coop have flipped to worries about frozen chickens. Could I knit them little sweaters? Do Brussels Sprouts get frost bite?

In honor of these frosty times I share Trish’s fabulous Red Lentil Soup with a few modifications because I’m not good about following recipes.

Olive Oil (a few glugs as my online friend Debbie would say)
Onion – chopped
Approx 3 cloves of garlic – chopped
Red Bell Pepper chipped
A couple of cans of tomatoes or one can and that bunch of tomatoes in the fridge that aren’t going to be used before they go off otherwise.
2 cups of lentils rinsed and sorted
Tablespoon of curry powder (Oh, how my Indian/Thai cooking teacher would go off on me about this if she knew)
Tablespoon of dried fennel seeds
8 cups of veg. broth

1. Saute onion until soft not brown, then add garlic.
2. Add red peppers and tomatoes in their juice
3. Add tbsp of curry and fennel seed each
4. Wait for fennel seeds to do whatever it is they do and start smelling spectacular
5. Add lentils and broth
6. Bring to boil and simmer until lentils are soft (approx. 1/2 hour)
7. Dip toes in to get warm. Just kidding, consuming via mouth much better idea.

ps. Don’t worry, this British woman isn’t going to subject you to loads of recipes. I know what the commonly held incorrect belief is about British food.