Warming Winter Meals: Turkish-Inspired Red Lentil Soup

I've spent the last couple of weeks pretending to be interested in doing a detox cleanse, which is how I came across this 2013 Whole Living Action Plan that claims to be a less drastic approach. Some of the recipes actually look delicious and if I was a more disciplined person, I probably would do this. However, I am not, but I was intrigued by the recipe for Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew enough to almost make it. I say almost because sometime between reading this recipe and going to the grocery store I had one of those moments of pure inspiration that was born out of a craving for Turkish red lentil balls, called Mercimek Koftesi. I decided to use the stew as a base, but change the flavors around to resemble the lentil balls. This also allowed me to use my favorite spice:

Smoked paprika  is pure magic. MAGIC, I tell you.

Ingredients 

• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbspn ground cumin (I really like cumin, so feel free to adjust this according to your liking)
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 Tbspn smoked paprika
• dash of crushed red pepper
• 1 diced large onion
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 minced cloves garlic      
• 1/2 C chopped fresh parsley                                 
• 2 peeled and diced sweet potatoes                               
• 1 1/2 cups rinsed red lentils
• 6 C Vegetable broth

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook paprika, cumin, turmeric, and curry powder until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add onion with salt, pepper, and red pepper and cook, stirring, until tender, about 6 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and cook until slightly brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring until tender, about 2 minutes
2. Add lentils and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, add parsley, and simmer until lentils are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. I used my hand blender to mix everything together, but that is up to you.
4. Add a generous squeeze of lemon juice and drizzle with olive oil before serving.

Picture sipping this while overlooking the Bosporus--great cure for the winter blues.