Kitchen Cupboard Curry Lentil Soup

It has been so gloomy today, even spitting rain on and off this evening.  Nothing serious but just enough to remind us that it is not quite summer yet.  I'm anxious for the warm weather ( I don't like being cold) but I do enjoy overcast days that are accompanied by a slight chill, just enough to give me an excuse to make soup.

I had originally planned on making Greek Turkey Burgers for dinner (inspired probably by today's lunch)  but the gray skies looming above us all day signaled that tonight was meant to be a soup night.  I love soups and try to keep things in the cupboard and in the fridge that I can throw into a pot with some stock at a moments notice.

After last night's dinner and soup at the University Club I was craving curry.  I had carrots, celery, onion, cilantro, lentils, frozen ground turkey, chicken broth....sounded like the perfect ingredients for some type of Curry Lentil soup.

Michael browned the turkey while I was working out with the Evil Training Monster.  When I got home, I added a tablespoon of cumin to the turkey and cooked it for a few more minutes.  I removed the turkey and then diced up the celery, onion and carrots and browned with a tablespoon of olive oil.  I love how beautiful this looks in the pot.

After the veggies softened a bit and got a nice brown on them (about 5 minutes under medium high heat), I added the ground turkey back in, with 48 ounces of chicken broth, 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, 1 tbsp of Curry powder, 1 cup of rinsed green lentils, and a bit of salt and pepper.  I know that does not sound very precise but really, I just put in some salt and pepper until it tastes good to me.

I love cilantro and believe it is pretty much good on anything so I usually have it on hand.  A little cilantro on top of our kitchen cupboard Curry Lentil Soup and voila! Dinner!

Now, the deal for me with kitchen cupboard soup (and the reason I love it anyway), is that nothing is ever super precise.  This is my best estimation of the recipe if you would like to give it a try!

• 1 lb of lean ground turkey
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 stalks of celery, sliced
• 1 cup of carrots (I only had mini carrots so they were cut in half and tossed in!)
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 cup green lentils, rinsed
• 48 oz of fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth (If you like a really brothy soup, add more as this reduces quite a bit)
• 1 14.5-ounce petite diced tomatoes

Preparation:

Brown turkey with 1 tbsp of cumin.  Remove from pot when brown.  Heat oil on medium heat in a Dutch oven or large pot.  Sauté celery, onion and carrots until soft.   Add broth, lentils, tomatoes and curry powder.  Bring to a boil.  Add back in the ground turkey.  Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the lentils are softened.