Lentil-Sweet Red Pepper Soup with Cumin & Black Pepper

I am a great lover of lentil soups and enjoy trying different versions. This soup did not disappoint. In spite of the fairly short prep time (about an hour start to finish), the flavors (red pepper, cumin and black pepper) came together very well and the resulting soup had real complexity and depth of flavor. I liked this soup better with every spoonful.

This is one of the few lentil soup recipes I have tried that doesn't call for a finish with some red wine vinegar -- and it was not missed.

The recipe as written made a fairly small amount of soup, enough for dinner-size portions for three. A salad and a loaf of crusty bread slathered with butter and it's pretty close to perfect for a weeknight meal. Really ... yummmm.