Green Lentil Soup

I'm never been much of a Fourth of July person, though that's probably because my family just didn't get really into it. I also can't make myself buy fireworks because it feels like I'm literally just burning all my money.
I did have a good time though. I went out to the country to a friends house, and we set off some pretty big fireworks. It was weird to me because apparently Kansans have different standards for fireworks than Oregonians. I had probably only seen fireworks of that size in a show put on by the city before, so that was a cool experience.

Today though, I had a pretty relaxed day. I worked for a while, then came home and decided to try my hand at making some lentil soup. I also wasted a lot of time finishing up the second season of Vampire Diaries, which has been consuming too much of my life. I WILL NOT START THE THIRD SEASON. Anyways, the soup was good.

I got the recipe from the book Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks. I wanted a thicker stew, verging on a curry, so I adapted it just a little. Here is the ever so slightly adapted recipe.

Green Lentil Soup




Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
heaping 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 cups water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 cups green lentils
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 cup coconut milk
salt
crumbled feta or plain yogurt for serving

Directions
In a large soup pot combine the 2 tablespoons of butter, onion, garlic and red pepper flakes. Stir over medium heat until onions begin to soften. Add in the water, soy sauce, and lentils. Cover and let simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. After about 20 minutes add in celery.

While the lentils are simmering, in a separate small sauce pan, melt the 3 tablespoons of butter and let brown. Add in the curry powder and let cook over medium heat until the spices are fragrant.

When the lentils are soft remove them from the heat and add in the coconut milk along with the curry butter and salt to taste.

This soup is pretty spicy, so if you aren't a fan of the intense spice I would try it with some plain yogurt or sour cream. We had ours with feta and it was delicious.