Spicy Lentil Soup

This is a recipe from my dear friend, Autumn.

Glad you liked my little soup. It's great as a meatless soup, or you can add sausage. And yes I cooked the sausage fully before putting it in the soup...you have to put the sausage in at the very last due to the fact that you puree the soup. I would add that it is spicy and I wait until the last to put the seasonings in and then just separate some out for my little munchkin. It makes enough for two meals for us and a leftover lunch, so I always freeze half of it. I started with cooking a light recipe and have modified it to my liking, so enjoy.

Spicy Lentil Soup
Ingredients:

1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 large parsnip, or two carrots
2 celery stalks
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 1/3 cups water
2 1/3 cups dried lentils
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
42 ounces chicken or potato broth
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
Sour Cream (you can also use kefir)
Cilantro sprig (optional)

Preparation:

Soak lentils overnight, drain and rinse.
Heat oil in a large pot oven over medium-high heat. Add the vegetables; sauté for 3 minutes. Add the cumin and the next 6 ingredients (cumin through garlic); sauté for 1 minute. Add water and next 4 ingredients (water through diced tomatoes); bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 1 hour.
Reserve 2 cups lentil mixture. Place half of remaining mixture in blender; process until smooth. Pour pureed soup into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with other half of remaining mixture. Stir in reserved 2 cups lentil mixture. Garnish with 1 tablespoon sour cream and a cilantro sprig, if desired.
11 servings. (serving size: 1 cup)