Spiced Red Lentil and Parsnip Soup

This tasty autumnal soup is a simple weekday meal that soothes the soul. Red lentils give it a rich color and the parsnips signal a change in season. The inspiration for this recipe came from Melissa Clark at The New York Times. When you have a recipe with over 29,000 reviews and 5 stars, then I think you are on to something good. I changed it up with the addition of the parsnips and tweaked the measurments. Happy Fall!

Spiced Red Lentil and Parsnip Soup

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon chili powder or ground cayenne

salt and pepper

1 quart vegetable broth (or chicken broth if you prefer)

1 cup red lentils

2 medium sized parsnips, peeled and diced

juice of ½ a lemon

Toppings: chopped fresh cilantro, avocado, and a pinch of Aleppo pepper or chili powder.

Heat olive oil in a large pot until shimmering and add the onions and garlic and sauté about 4 minutes until soft.

Add the tomato paste, cumin, chili powder and ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Sauté for a couple more minutes.

Add broth, 2 cups of water, lentils and the parsnips. Bring to a simmer and partially cover the pot, turn the heat to med-low and simmer about 30 minutes or until lentils are soft.

Using an immersion blender, blend about half of the soup yet keeping it slightly chunky. (You could also blend half the soup in a blender and then return it to the pot) Salt to taste.

Stir in lemon juice and top with chopped fresh cilantro, avocado, and a pinch of Aleppo pepper or chili powder.