Red Lentil Chipotle Mango Soup

1 cup red lentils
4 cups water
1 onion chopped
5 garlic cloves minced
2 large ribs celery chopped
2 large carrots chopped
1 teas cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
2 Tablespoons fresh ginger minced
1 1/2 cups frozen spinach
3 Tablespoons roasted chipotle mango sauce
2 squirts Chipotle Tabasco Sauce

In a large pan add picked-clean rinsed and drained red lentils and four cups of water. Bring to a boil and cover with lid tilted a little. Simmer over low heat until soft, about ten minutes.

Cut and chop the onion, garlic, celery and carrots. With the celery I cut three long slices lengthwise and then cut into bite size pieces. I cut the carrots lengthwise also and if they are on the larger size I cut again so you have four separate lengths. And then chop them as you normally would into bite size pieces.

I water saute the veggies for about five minutes. I like crunch in my soups so I cook my vegetables crisp-tender . I taste as I'm sauteing so I make sure it's the right texture for me. You may like yours cooked completely and if so keep cooking for another five minutes or until it cooks to the degree of doneness that you like.

TIP: If you leave the vegetables crisp tender, I think you'll find the flavor of the onion, garlic, carrot and celery is more intense.

When the lentils are finished cooking, you can blend them in your blender or use an immersion blender. I leave mine as is without blending.

Add your sauteed veggies to the lentils and add the cumin, coriander, ginger and the spinach. You can use fresh if you'd rather. I always have frozen on hand and it's quick and easy. Stir to combine all the ingredients.

At the end I added the roasted chipotle mango sauce. You can order the mango sauce online http://www.lwcbrandsinc.com/fth15ozboofr.html or just add a small amount of pureed mango. (If you decide to purchase the sauce online, the raspberry is really tasty too.) The mango gives the soup a really nice, mild sweetness. If you're one that doesn't like any sweetness at all to your savory dishes don't add it because you probably won't like it.

And finally add a couple of squirts of the chipotle tabasco sauce or to taste. And if you substitute pureed mango for the mango sauce, add an extra squirt or two tasting as you add.

I hope you'll try this soup and let me know how you like it. Cook and eat to live everyone!

Laina :-)