Red Lentil Vegetable Soup

While reading through food blogs I found a soup that sounded good. I altered the recipe and here's my version. The soup is light with plenty of veggies. The spices make it taste kind of like chili.

Red Lentil Vegetable Soup (makes about 4 quarts/8 servings)

Ingredients:

3 strips bacon

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seed

1/2 teaspoon whole fennel seed

2 teaspoons paprika

1/2 teaspoon thyme

2 bay leaves

2 dried chili pepper (optional)

1 cup wine (red is better, but I used white)

2 potatoes

2 stalks celery

2 carrots

3 parsnips

3 leaves kale

1/2 cup red lentils

1 quart water

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon salt (or substitute with powdered broth)

2 teaspoons MSG or hydrolyzed vegetable protein (optional)

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

1. Prep the veggies. Cut the potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and celery into uniformly sized pieces. I cut everything into about 1/2 pieces. To cut the celery, first halve lengthwise. Take each leaf of kale, cut out the stem, and slice into small pieces. Place all of these veggies (not including the leaf of kale) into one basket. Cut the kale leaves into thirds, then slice into 1/4 inch strips. Place those in a separate container. Finely chop onion and garlic.

2. Cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces. Place the bacon and cook over low heat for about 5-8 minutes. Stir occasionally. When the bacon looks crispy, take the meat out.

3. Put the chopped onions into the bacon fat. Cook on medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes. When the onions are getting close to finished, add the garlic.

4. Increase the heat to medium-high. Toast the spices in the pot: cumin, fennel, paprika and thyme.  After one minute, the spices should be fragrant. Add the wine and use a spoon to scrape any browned bits. Let the wine cook until the volume is halved. Add the bay leaf and dried chili pepper.

5.  Add all of the veggies except for the kale leaves. Pour enough water until the water line is about an inch above the veggies. Add tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Cover the pot and heat on high until it boils. Reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes until the veggies start to soften. You should be able to pierce the veggies with a fork but the veggies are not mushy. While the soup is simmering, rinse the dried lentils with water.  Place the lentils and enough water to submerge the lentils in a large bowl.  While the soup is cooking, the lentils with absorb the water.

BTW I made a double batch, that's why it's about to overflow

6. Take out the bay leaves, and the chili peppers if you want to. Add the soaked lentils, kale leaves, and bacon. Cook for another 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and when the soup is warm it's ready to serve!