Spicy Red Lentil Chili

I realize I've put everything about Ithaca on a pedestal, which I suppose is natural because it's my home, and I miss it. On the day I made this recipe it was 6o degrees in DC and beautiful while upstate New York was overcast and covered in a layer of snow, but I still found myself wishing I was home to wade through the slushy parking lot of Wegmans and go grocery shopping. I mean seriously, what?! That doesn't even make sense.

My perpetual homesickness luckily led me to search Wegmans recipes online, and I was able to download one of my absolute favorites: spicy red lentil chili. I'll confess, had I known I could make this soup myself I would have stopped buying it years ago because pre-made soup is ridiculously expensive compared to the cost of the actual ingredients, but now I can have it whenever I want-- you should, too. Disclaimer: my version is slightly different, and maybe tastier? I left out the Tobasco, chili powder, and green pepper.

Ingredients (makes about 7 cups):

1 cup red lentils
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup celery, diced
2 tbsp. garlic cloves, chopped (this measurement was a little unclear to me, but I think I ended up using 6 large cloves)
1 medium tomato, diced
2 cups vegetable stock, plus 2 cups water 
1/8 tsp. tumeric
1/8 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne (note: I used 1/4 tsp. and it was verryyy spicy... I think in the future I would use somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. corn starch

Bring lentils and 2 cups water to a boil; promptly remove from heat and put half of the lentils and liquid into a blender. Let it cool for several minutes, and then blend for approximately 1 minute. Set lentils aside.

Melt butter; add onion and saute for about 2 minutes, until soft. Add celery and garlic- cook for 5 minutes, and then add tomato. Cook for 5 more minutes and add stock, water, and spices. Bring to a simmer, and add lentils. Cook for 15 minutes until lentils are tender. Stir cornstarch with 2 tbsp. water and add to pot. Remove from heat and serve.

I ate mine with warm pita that I brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt... the combination was delicious! But when has warm pita ever been bad?