Lentil-Red Pepper Soup (Recipe)

Here's a zesty twist on traditional lentil soup.  For convenience, I use jarred roasted red peppers to make the puree that goes into soup, but you can roast a large pepper if you prefer.  To add a colorful garnish, top with some diced roasted red peppers and dollop of sour cream.

Ingredients

1 (16 ounce) package lentils, rinsed, drained, and picked over

2 medium onions, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

1 ham hock

5 cups homemade chicken stock or 3 (14 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth

1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles

1 cup roasted red peppers, rinsed, drained, and pureed in a food processor

Salt

Steps

1.  In a 5 quart electric slow cooker, mix together the lentils, onions, carrots, ham, hock, stock, and water.

2.  Cover and cook on the low heat setting 9 hours, or until the lentils are tender.  Remove the ham hock; finely chop the meat and return it to the slow cooker.  Discard the bone.  Stir in the cumin, cayenne, green chiles, and red peppers puree.  Season with salt to taste.  Increase the heat to the high setting and cook 15 minutes longer.