Golden Coconut Lentil Soup

It's 26 days into January and we're still holding strong on our plan to eat better and to order less take-out. This soup was easy to put together and the flavors were great. I'm thinking about adding it into our winter rotation because we already had most of the ingredients and now we have a bag of lentils that we need to use. I added coconut bacon and I'm glad I did because the smokey flavor helped to round out the sweetness the coconut milk added to the soup. 

Recipe slightly adapted from Budget Bytes.

Ingredients:

-1 tablespoon olive oil 

-1 yellow onion, diced 

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 tablespoon grated ginger 

-1/2 tablespoon ground turmeric 

-Pinch red pepper flakes 

-2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced into half circles

-1/2 lb red lentils (about 1 cup) 

-4 cups water 

-13.5 oz can coconut milk 

-1/2 tablespoon salt (or to taste)

Toppings
1/3 cup coconut flakes

-1 tablespoon liquid smoke

-1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

-1 tablespoon maple syrup

-2 cups cooked jasmine rice
-Parsley

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to the soup pot and saute until the onions have softened. Season the mixture with turmeric and red pepper flakes. Next, add the carrots and saute for one to two minutes. Finally, add the water and the lentils. Top the soup pot with a lid and bring the soup to a boil, reduce the soup to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes.

While the lentils are cooking, make the coconut bacon. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the liquid smoke, soy sauce, and maple syrup in a bowl. Add the coconut flakes and stir until the coconut flakes are coated in the sauce. Spread the coconut flakes out onto a single layer on the parchment paper and bake for 10-15 minutes, stirring the flakes every 5 minutes to make sure they are evenly cooked and to prevent burning.

Once the lentils are soft, stir the coconut milk into the soup. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until about half of it is pureed. Add salt to taste and more red pepper flakes if desired.

Serve the soup ladled over jasmine rice and topped with coconut bacon and parsley.