red lentil soup

1 large onion, diced
4 ribs of celery, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 medium sweet potato, cut in small cubes
4 cloves garlic, minced
red lentils, equal to about half the volume of the chopped vegetables
turmeric, 1/4 palmful
garam masala, 1 small palmful
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes, optional
cayenne pepper, optional
olive oil

put the chopped vegetables in a pot with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. cook until the vegetables become soft, give off their water, and begin to decompose. add the red lentils and spices. add enough water to cover the ingredients (more water will needed to be added as the soup cooks, and the lentils absorb some of the water). bring to a boil, then cover and simmer.

i like my soups thick and chunky, so for this recipe, i cook the soup about 2 hours (or longer) until all of the vegetables have fallen apart. i sometimes use a potato masher towards the end to help them along.

if you like your soup less thick and chunky, replace the water with chicken/vegetable stock, and stop cooking the soup once the red lentils have fallen apart, but the vegetables have not. you may also want to add a can of diced tomatoes to the recipe if you choose to cook it more like a chunky vegetable soup.