Moroccan Lentil Stoup

I tried out another recipe from A Year of Crockpotting for Moroccan Lentil Soup. Although, its a pretty thick soup, not quite a stew. I think Rachael Ray would call it a stoup, so that's what I've called it in my post. It was good - it reminded Kevin and I of a chili without meat. It was kind of spicy for me. The spice from the cayenne pepper built up in my mouth after eating about half of my bowl and I had to take a break for awhile. Kevin, on the other hand, didn't think it was spicy at all and didn't understand why I thought it was. He said that if I can eat the medium salsa verde at Qdoba, I shouldn't have a problem with this (I don't think Qdoba's salsa verde is spicy, but he does - weird I know). Kevin didn't like the lentils - but I love them. I'm not super crazy about garbanzo beans when they're in soups, but then Kevin really likes them. Next time, I'd put less cayenne pepper and probably substitute the garbanzo beans for black beans or another can of pinto beans. I used Eden Organic garbanzos and pintos - they're the only canned bean that doesn't have BPA in their cans, plus the company is here in Michigan! I also used organic onions, garlic, celery, carrots, veggie broth, cayenne pepper, and ginger.

Crockpot Moroccan Lentil Stoup

1 cup dried lentils (I used green lentils)
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
28 oz can of diced tomatoes and juice
4 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 inch ginger, peeled and grated (I just used ground ginger)

Chop up all of your vegetables and add them to the crockpot. Drain and rinse off the beans, add to the pot. Add the dried lentils. Grate your ginger, and add it along with the dried spices. Stir in the vegetable broth and tomatoes.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours (ours cooked for 10 hours on low and then switched to Keep Warm for a couple of hours till we got home from work). Soup tastes best the longer you cook it, and it is even better the next day.

Before serving, use an immersible blender and pulse to blend some of the vegetables and beans together. This isn't necessary, but it really improves the texture of the soup and melds the flavors nicely. (I didn't do this)