Curried Carrot and Red Lentil Soup Recipe- Vegan, GAPS Legal

On cold, wintry days, nothing is more appealing to me than a big bowl of steaming hot and hearty soup. Lentil soup not only is warm and delicious, it is super frugal as well (especially if you wait to stock up on lentils until they're on sale, which lowers the price even more). I came across this recipe last week and tweaked it to my liking, and ended up with a super scrumptious soup that really hits the spot!

This recipe is good for so many diets- from vegan/vegetarian diets, to gluten and grain free diets, and it even is GAPS/SCD legal, and as previously mentioned, it's gluten free. I also soaked my lentils overnight beforehand in a way that reduces the amount of phytic acid and makes it more digestible, so I've included instructions as to how to do that if you're interested...
I highly suggest you try this recipe out- hopefully you'll love it as much as I do!

Curried Carrot and Red Lentil Soup Recipe- Vegan, GAPS Legal

Ingredients:
1 cup red lentils
1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice (optional)
2 1/2 or 3 1/2 cups of water, divided, plus more for soaking.
2 lbs carrots- or 6 1/2 cups chopped carrots
1 tablespoon oil, plus 1/4 cup (I used palm, but any non strongly flavored oil would work)
3 medium onions
1 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
3 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried ginger
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika/cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)


Instructions:
1. Soak the lentils in water overnight, with 1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice, plus about 2 cups of water. In the morning, strain these lentils. You can also skip this part if you're short on time.

2. If you soaked your lentils, bring your lentils to a boil in 2 1/2 cups of water until fully soft. If you didn't soak them, use 3 1/2 cups of water.

2. Chop your carrots to 1/2 inch chunks, quarter or halve each chunk, depending on the thickness of the carrots, and coat with 1 tablespoon oil.

3. Roast your carrots in the oven for around 30 minutes at 350, or until the carrots are fully soft.

4. Set aside 1 cup of the roasted carrots, and puree the rest of the carrots, then add the pureed carrots to the lentils.

5. In another pot, saute the onions until golden, then add the carrots, and cook for 5-10 minutes.

6. Add the onions, carrots, and oil to the lentils, and add the spices. Salt to taste. If too thick, too much water may have boiled off your soup- you can thin it down with more water if necessary, but you may need to adjust the spices accordingly.

Enjoy!

Are you a fan of lentil soup? How do you make yours? Does this look like a recipe you'd enjoy?