|still working on that lentil soup recipe|

There is a Turkish restaurant in our town that has a lentil soup that is AMAZING. It's super minty and just wonderful. I keep trying to re-create it - usually with no luck. This time, I didn't get close to their recipe, but I at least ended up with a good end product, so I thought I'd post it.

ALMOST THERE TURKISH LENTIL SOUP

• 1 cup dry lentils
  
• 4 cups veggie broth
• 1 cups water
  
• 2 T tomato paste
• 1 1/2-2 cups peeled, diced potatoes
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1/2 onion
• 2 t. cumin
• 1 t. coriander
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
• 2 T finely minced fresh mint leaves
• 3-4 T. lemon juice
• Plenty of salt and pepper
  

Combine all the ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on high for about 5-6 hours. Mash the soup with a potato masher (or blend - but you'll have to cool it first if you want to do that). Add about 2 T more mint and garnish with about a tablespoon of good olive oil.

CHANGES:
Next time I make this, I will change the following things....still trying to get closer to the Turkish restaurant:
- I really do think I need to go ahead and buy the red lentils - they just have a different flavor
- This soup was MUCH thicker than the one they have, so I'm going to use only 1/2 cup
- I will use about twice as much mint (I was running low outside)