Tomato Lentil Soup

This site (and my sister-in-law) led me back to this cookbook after a number of years apart following my earlier love affair with it in the early 90s. Made this soup on her recommendation (also following her suggestion to increase the lentils from a half to a full cup. A healthy, hearty, vegetarian main-dish soup. But the use of ground cloves as called for by the recipe was not a hit with my family (they prefer cumin or a touch of curry which they have had in the lentil soups I have prepared from the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks).

When my husband calls something "interesting" rather than "delicious" he is respecting the effort but not loving the taste. And I wasn't bowled over by it myself. Still ... the leftovers will make a nice lunch when paired with a grilled cheese sandwich.